2015 Stream Insects BioBlitz Results

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 16, No. 1, Summer 2016.

The 2015 Stream Insects BioBlitz collected insects from nearly every stream in the park. Over 2,400 specimens were counted, with 107 species identified.

Photo by Riley Nelson

By Riley Nelson, Brigham Young University, Boris Kondratieff, Colorado State University, and Gretchen Baker, Ecologist, GRBA

Great Basin National Park held its seventh annual BioBlitz on May 15-17, 2015. The focus for the BioBlitz was Stream Insects, including the orders that indicate good water quality: Ephemeroptera (Mayflies), Plecoptera (Stoneflies), and Trichoptera (Caddisflies).

Dr. Boris Kondratieff from Colorado State University served as the lead entomologist, with assistance from Dr. Riley Nelson of Brigham Young University. Dave Ruiter, the leading expert on caddisflies in the American West also attended, as well as the Nevada State Entomologist and his crew and eleven park employees. Citizen scientists from several states participated in the event, and in total more than 35 people spent over 500 hours helping find and identify stream insects.

An adult stonefly.

Photo by Riley Nelson

Twenty three first 100 samples were collected by using a kick net in the habitat and moving the raw unsorted mass into white trays for sorting. Participants were trained to place 100 specimens of macroinvertebrates in a vial containing 70% ethanol as a preservative. They were instructed to collect the specimens without regards to size or speed so that the sample would be representative of the ratios of the taxa found in the stream.

In those 23 samples we identified 2366 specimens in 99 different taxa for a mean of 103 specimens per sample. Additional species were found by sampling more broadly and qualitatively, for a total of 107 species (Table 1).

This information supplements park knowledge about the presence and distribution of stream insects in the park. Overall, the diversity indicate a very healthy stream ecosystem.