Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Micro-invertebrates in our lakes

I think the generalists are usually the most common inhabitants in the older nearby water bodies of newly built or flooded waters. (Flooding introduces many new species.) Thus it stands to reason that generalists are most likely to be the first ones that get introduced. New waters quickly get populated by a few taxa and over time the numbers increase by various methods. From the begining, it is survival of the fittest based on who can best survive in the prevailing conditions.

Hey "bug picker technician" (I won't call you a lab monkey), micro-invertebrates are different than macro-invertebrates. I'm sure you realize this, others may not. Your lab may have a slightly different definition and study purpose than the typical Rapid Bioassessment Water Quality Protocols (methods) that are popular today. But, macroinvertebrates are usually defined as invertebrates that are easily or readily visible with the unaided eye; things like snails, shrimp, worms and insect larvae. Microinvertebrates are typically defined as those small enough to need magnification to pick them from a sample or net, things like the smaller crustacean zooplankton and other types smaller, down to the one celled animals. As you probably know by now, there are those that are transitional between the two groups and technicially some overlap occurs between the groups with things like smaller Naididae worms, nematodes, hydra types, tardigrades, and numerous early instars of insect larvae, etc.