Increasing the biomonitoring potential of water boatmen (Hemiptera: Corixidae) in Alberta

In the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada, wetland consolidation and agrichemicals are potentially threatening aquatic life. The water boatmen are a family of aquatic insects with 42 species in Alberta that are monitored
province-wide by the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. However, currently only a small proportion of the water boatmen collected in the monitoring program are identifiable to the species level. In this project, the intern
will create an updated taxonomic key to the water boatmen of Alberta, which includes females and where possible, larvae, which will increase the group’s utility as bioindicators. As well, the intern will conduct a field study of the
effects of wetland consolidation drainage, salinity and pesticides on water boatman abundance, diversity, and species composition, to determine whether water boatman assemblages integrate these types of environmental change that are predominant in agricultural regions in predictable ways.

Faculty Supervisor:

Carol Frost

Student:

Partner:

Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Alberta

Program: