Species versus generic identifications in water-quality monitoring and ecological studies of Trichoptera in North America: Is this question still unresolved after half a century?

By

Resh, Vincent H

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023-10-27

Original Publication

Beiträge zur Entomologie

Volume

73

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

161--166

Subjects

biomonitoring , History , pollution assessment , taxonomic sufficiency , Water quality

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Berlin Akademie-Verlag 1951-1997

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/contrib.entomol.73.e109330

 

Abstract

Species-level identifications of the larval stages of caddisflies are available for only a limited number of taxa that are used currently in water-quality monitoring programs. This has been a long-lamented condition, but the proportion of species identifications available for aquatic forms that are used in these efforts has increased little over the past half-century. This is despite repeated and documented advantages that species-level identifications add to monitoring studies. Approaches to examining this question have ranged from anecdotal accounts of pollution tolerance among species within a genus to detailed analyses comparing information available through different hierarchical levels of taxonomy, from species to family. Justifications for not using species-level taxonomic resolution have ranged from financial considerations to suggestions that higher levels are equally as valid in showing trends as are species-level identifications. However, the evidence justifying the use of higher levels of taxonomy is lacking and more evidence favors the value of species-level identifications. Genetic techniques offer the promise of more larval-adult associations, more useful identification keys, and improved biological monitoring.