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Benthic Collector And Grazer Communities Are Threatened By Hemlock Woolly Adelgid-Induced Eastern Hemlock Loss, Joshua K. Adkins, Lynne K. Rieske

Entomology Faculty Publications

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) is a foundation species in eastern North America where it is under threat from the highly invasive, exotic hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Eastern hemlock is especially important in riparian areas of Central and Southern Appalachia, so we compared the spatial and temporal composition of benthic collector-gatherers, collector-filterers, and grazers in headwater streams with hemlock-dominated riparian vegetation to those with deciduous tree-dominated riparian vegetation to evaluate the extent to which adelgid-induced hemlock loss could influence composition and abundance of these two functional feeding groups. We found differences in benthic invertebrate abundance and …