Wolbachia is a fascinating critter. It’s a bacterial genus that infects lots of arthropods, and does all kinds of things to them that make great headlines, like killing males or making them eat brains. However, it’s commonness is disputed, particularly among insects that live in rivers and lakes (i.e. freshwater insects). So in this study, Eric Sazama answered the question, How many freshwater insect species are infected with Wolbachia? See the answer here, for free.
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Poll for USD grad students
Lauren Henning wins Schmulbach award
Lauren Henning was chosen for the James M. Schmulbach Memorial Award at USD. The award supports student research in environmental or natural sciences at USD. Check out Lauren’s project here. Congrats, Lauren!
State Wildlife Grant awarded to Kerby and Wesner labs
Jake Kerby (PI) and Jeff Wesner (Co-PI) received a State Wildlife Grant to study the effects of tile drains on prairie pothole wetlands. This comprehensive study will measure chemical contaminant levels in 18 wetlands (e.g. Se, Neonicotinoids, Nutrients) and their effects on amphibians, insects, and fish.
Brianna Henry is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow!
Congratulations to Brianna Henry! Brianna is an undergraduate at Clarion University of Pennsylvania who was just awarded an NSF GRFP fellowship to conduct research on herbicides and wetland ecosystem ecology. This award is highly competitive – only 12% of the 16,500 submitted proposals were funded. She will join our lab at USD this summer, and we’re excited to learn what she discovers!
Welcome to Eric Sazama!
Eric joined the lab in Fall 2014 to pursue his M.S. He’s developing a fascinating project that will ask how Wolbachia, a widespread endosymbiotic bacterium, is distributed within aquatic insects. He will then ask how infection by Wolbachia might alter the ability for insects to complete metamorphosis, a key process in linking aquatic-terrestrial food webs.
Habitat selection paper published in Ecology and Evolution
We tested whether egg-laying female insects could detect differences in predator community composition. Because some predators are more lethal than others, the ability to differentiate predator risk when laying eggs can have large fitness consequences. To test this, we allowed insects to oviposit in tanks that contained a native dragonfly (Ophiogomphus sp.) or a non-native trout brown trout (Salmo trutta). Predators were housed in isolated outdoor tanks either alone (single species) or combined (both species together). Predators were also caged to avoid direct consumption during colonization.
Surprisingly, insect colonization (number of larval insects after 21 days) did not depend on whether predators were present or not, regardless of community composition. However, follow-up consumption trials suggested that laying eggs in predator pools had clear negative consequences for larvae, particularly in trout pools, which reduced larval survival by ~47%. Thus, egg-laying insects either did not (or could not) detect differences in larval habitat quality.
Second metamorphosis paper accepted to ES&T! UPDATED
We’re on a roll with metamorphosis at ES&T. Johanna Kraus, a Mendenhall Fellow at the USGS, led the way on this very important paper. It shows differential contaminant loss as insects metamorphose from larvae to adult. Some contaminants are lost, while others are retained. Further, some stable isotope tracers, like N15, also change during metamorphosis. The results have broad application to contaminant transfer in food webs, and the interpretation of stable isotope studies.
UPDATES:
This paper was chosen as an “Editor’s Choice” by the American Chemical Society.
USGS Press Release
Metamorphosis paper 1 accepted to ES&T
This paper shows that metal concentrations that are non-lethal for mayfly larvae can become lethal when those larvae undergo metamorphosis to become winged adults. This points to an intriguing mechanism that may explain field patterns in which insect emergence is a more sensitive indicator of stream pollution than larval densities (Schmidt et al. 2013). In short, metamorphosis is a stressful event, and when combined with other stressors, metamorphosis can magnify their effects. The result is a disconnect between responses in the water (larvae) and responses in the air (emerged adults).
Northern leatherside chub paper accepted in Ecology of Freshwater Fish
Last week brought great news that our work on the food webs of northern leatherside chub was accepted to Ecology of Freshwater Fish. This study documents a shift in trophic position of common fishes in streams where NLC is absent. The shift is independent of habitat variation, meaning the food webs at these sites may be altered. This has exciting potential, as it may mean more than just habitat restoration is required to protect species of conservation need. I’ll post a longer write-up when it goes to press… Wesner, JS, and MC Belk. Accepted. Variation in the trophic position of common stream fishes and its relationship to the presence of a rare fish, northern leatherside chub (Lepidomeda copei). Ecology of Freshwater Fish.
