Effects of Plant Architecture, Bed Position, and Fish Predation on Hydrilla-Dwelling Macroinvertebrates

Hydrilla verticillata invaded south central Louisiana during the 1970s and has become the dominant submerged macrophyte in floodplain habitats of the Atchafalaya River Basin. This plant has had pervasive effects on littoral habitat structure and water quality, and we hypothesized that dense hydrilla stands would also impact vertebrate predation on resident macroinvertebrates, although predation effects would likely be mediated by bed position. During 2003 and 2004 we conducted exclosure experiments in the Basin with artificial substrates to examine variations in hydrilla-dwelling macroinvertebrate communities due to predation, plant architecture, and bed position, and also examined stomach contents of potentially invertivorous fishes associated with these beds. Preliminary results indicate that bed position is more important in determining macroinvertebrate abundance than predation. Diet analyses indicate that the most common fishes either do not feed extensively on macroinvertebrates or are generalist browsers. Although predation by fishes may reduce abundances of specific invertebrate taxa, other factors may also be important in structuring macroinvertebrate communities inhabiting hydrilla beds.