| In the early 1980s, wild rice (Zizania palustris) was introduced into a number of lakes in west-central Manitoba as a result of the expansion of the commercial wild rice industry. Concerns have been raised regarding the possible impacts wild rice may have on aquatic organisms. With one exception (Watson et al., 2001), no previous research has examined aquatic communities in littoral zones dominated by wild rice. In this study, I compared and contrasted invertebrate communities in bays with wild rice and bays with native macrophytes in three lakes, Barry, Cacholotte and Naosap, in west-central Manitoba. The first objective was to compare invertebrate diversity, abundance and composition between bays with wild rice and bays with native macrophytes.; The second objective of the study was to use carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes to characterize trophic relationships and assess whether food webs differed in littoral areas of lakes with wild rice or native macrophytes.; Results from this study indicate that invertebrate communities in wild rice and native macrophytes bays are equally abundant, however, community composition varied between the wild rice and native macrophyte bays in this study. This study has provided important information about the relationships of wild rice with invertebrate and fish communities. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
