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

石蛾是一种优势的，有益的订单， 昆虫在大多数新北的河流和湖泊生态系统。 他们 构成鱼类饮食的主要成分， 因此对体育和商业渔业管理很重要。 石蛾也是重要的污染指示生物， 因为大多数物种不能忍受恶劣的水质。 昆虫和其他无脊椎动物占估计的90% 地球上95%的动物物种的生物量。 他们 支撑着世界的生物系统， 这些系统的维护。 这项研究将首次调查和记录 这一重要昆虫群体在内陆的生物多样性 高地 这个山区是一个重要的 阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉之间的生物地理联系 店 这项研究将提供第一个主要的治疗方法， 北方任何主要山区的石蛾生物多样性 美国，并将关联石蛾物种与地质， 自然地理、水文和植被特征 本地区 物种与环境的关系 参数将使用地理信息系统 (GIS)电脑程序 这项研究将大大提高我们的 了解该地区的石蛾， 生态学家和渔业科学家做出预测性推断 毛翅目的哪些种类 水生系统。

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.