Associations and Species Diversity in Benthic Macroinvertebrates of Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario

Abstract

Three main macroinvertebrate associations were found in the Bay of Quinte, Prince Edward Bay, and the adjacent area of Lake Ontario: a chironomid association of the eutrophic inner and middle bays; an association of many species of sphaeriids, oligochaetes, chironomids, and crustaceans in the mesotrophic lower Bay of Quinte and Prince Edward Bay; and a cold-stenotherm association of the oligotrophic deep basin of Lake Ontario. An additional, but more confined (inner Prince Edward Bay), association consisted of a variety of taxa, whose distribution appeared to be related to the distribution of vascular vegetation. All of the main taxonomic groups contributed to each association and to differences among associations. The lakeward progression of associations in the study area was closely similar to the west to east shifts in Lake Erie reported earlier. Species diversity in Lake Ontario associations apparently was related to degree of eutrophy and to water temperature.