Flow management, aquatic insects and river food webs - Data

Two unique datasets were gathered to document whether flow management for hydropower affects the abundance and diversity of aquatic insect assemblages. The first dataset was collected in Grand Canyon from 2012-2014 by citizen scientists rafting the Colorado River. Simple light traps were set out each night in camp and used to capture the adult life stages of aquatic insects that emerged from the Colorado River. Three aquatic insect taxa were captured in sufficient abundance to analyze statistically including midges (order Diptera, family Chironomidae), micro-caddisflies (order Trichoptera, family Hydroptilidae), and blackflies (order Diptera, family Simuliidae, principally Simulium arcticum). These data were used to identify whether [...]