Survey and Inventory of Selected Arthropods in the MidSouth Coastal Plain

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Unique and threatened habitats in the midsouth Coastal Plain will be surveyed for mites, Microlepidoptera (moths), and caddisflies, which are major components of the biodiversity present in soil and aquatic microhabitats and on plant hosts. Unique habitats to be surveyed in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi include inland and coastal prairies, coastal savannahs and dunes, bottomland hardwood forest, mesophytic forests on loessal hills, and selected streams and other aquatic habitats. These habitats are threatened by urbanization, clear- cutting of forests, agricultural practices, proposed placement of regional hazardous waste dumps, and stream channelization and pollution. Four senior researchers from Mississippi State University will be assisted by collaborators to document the fauna with use of a wide array of collecting methods. Larvae of leafminers and stem-root borers will be reared to obtain data on host plants and life histories. The survey will result in publications that document morphology, ecology, biogeography, and systematics of mites, microlepidoptera, and Trichoptera in the midsouth. The survey also will provide biodiversity data for documenting the need for habitat conservation.