Oral Presentation Freshwater Sciences 2023

Factors influencing occupancy and detectability of common, rare, and endemic winter stonefly species in Northwest Arkansas, USA (#189)

Camryn A Larson 1 , Brianna Annaratone 1 , Ashley Dowling 2 , Dan Magoulick 1 , Clay Prater 3 , John D Willson 1 , Michelle A Evans-White 1
  1. Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States
  2. Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States
  3. Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

Stoneflies (Order Plecoptera) play a crucial role in many freshwater ecosystems and are often considered vital to these ecosystems through their roles as food web intermediates and biological indicators. Despite being important to freshwater ecosystems, stoneflies are imperiled worldwide. Habitat loss, pollution, biological factors, and climate change are driving factors behind the species declines being observed. A genus of winter stonefly, Allocapnia, has several species listed as species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) on the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan. We sought to examine both the environmental and sampling variables related to occupancy and detection probability of three species: A. rickeri, A. mohri, and a SGCN, A. jeanae. Over the 2020-2021 winter season, we completed between 7 to 10 timed surveys at each of 40 Arkansas 150-m stream reaches. Adult Allocapnia were collected during the 20-minute reach surveys. We used a single-season occupancy model to examine the relationships between occupancy rates and environmental- and sample-specific covariates for each species, while accounting for imperfect detection. Important variables related to Allocapnia occupancy should be considered in future studies on these organisms as well as conservation planning efforts. Detection probability is rarely considered in studies of insects, but this study highlights the importance of considering detection probability in insect sampling, especially when dealing with rare or under-studied organisms.