DASNR researchers dive into Oklahoma streams ow did the macroinvertebrate cross the road? The question may seem like a joke, but the researchers from Oklahoma State University’s entomology and plant pathology department are not delivering punchlines about these stream-dwelling insects. Insects living in Oklahoma streams vary from worms to tiny, shrimplike organisms called amphipods, said Melissa Reed, an OSU entomology and plant
pathology doctoral candidate and lead researcher on the effects of damaged culverts on aquatic insects. “Macroinvertebrates are insects you can see with your naked eye,” Reed said. She called these organisms “super-recyclers” in their ecosystems because they clean up organic debris like leaves that fall into streams. “As we get into autumn and leaves fall into areas of water, something has to break them down,” said Wyatt Hoback,
Aquatic insects and river rocks provide Melissa Reed and Rayne Key additional information about stream health. Photo by JoMarie Hickerson. VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1 | 77
