Biodiversity of Caddisflies (Trichoptera) in the Interior Highlands of North America

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Caddisflies are one of the dominant, beneficial orders of insects in most Nearctic stream and lake ecosystems. They constitute a major component in the diet of fishes, and are therefore important to sport and commercial fisheries management. Caddisflies are also important pollution indicator organisms, because most species are intolerant of adverse water quality. Insects and other invertebrates account for an estimated 90% of the earth's animal biomass and 95% of all animal species. They undergird the world's biological systems, and are critical to maintenance of those systems. This study will survey and document for the first time the biodiversity of this important group of insects in the Interior Highlands. This mountainous region is an important biogeographical link between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountain chains. The research will provide the first major treatment of caddisfly biodiversity for any major mountain region of North America, and will correlate caddisfly species with geological, physiographic, hydrological and vegetational characteristics of the region. Correlations of species with environmental parameters will be made, using Geographic Information System (GIS) computer program. The study will greatly enhance our knowledge of caddisflies in the region and allow aquatic ecologists and fisheries scientists to make predictive inference as to which Trichoptera species can be expected in certain types of aquatic systems.