APPLICATION OF MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND MACROINVERTEBRATE
DATA FROM STREAMS IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA
By Steven A. Frenzel
ABSTRACT:
Ninety-three stream-monitoring sites in the Platte
River basin in central Nebraska were classified based on cluster analysis of
macroinvertebrate community composition. A divisive clustering technique was
used to determine whether four environmental settings were characterized by
distinct macroinvertebrate communities. Groups created by the classification
did not correspond well to the environmental settings. Streams entirely
within, or originating from, the Sandhills environmental setting appears to
have distinctly different macroinvertebrate community composition than do
other streams in central Nebraska. At a subset of 57 sites,
species-environment relationships were examined using canonical correspondence
analysis to determine the response of communities to 18 environmental
variables. Stream width and soil permeability were most important in
describing variance in species-environment relationships. Stream width may be
indicative of the degree to which riparian vegetation influences
macroinvertebrate community structure. Soil permeability readily
differentiated Sandhills stream communities from all others in the study unit
and may have reflected differences in streamflow variability and
predictability. Because of the high level of homogeneity, streambed variables
were relatively unimportant in explaining variability in macroinvertebrate
communities. Land use categories of cropland/pasture, and rangeland were
highly correlated with other variables such as soil permeability and
precipitation and therefore explained little additional variability in
species-environment relationships.
CITATION:
Frenzel, S.A., 1994, Application of multivariate techniques to environmental
and macroinvertebrate data from streams in central Nebraska [abs]: Bulletin
of the North American Benthological Society, v. 11, no. 1, p. 104.