POSTER PRESENTER: http://tinyurl.com/2024WSC-Wasilewski CO-AUTHOR: Melissa Youngquist, Shedd Aquarium TITLE: Drought effects on Chicagoland macroinvertebrates ABSTRACT: As extreme drought events increase in the Midwest with climate change, understanding how aquatic macroinvertebrates are responding is crucial to understanding the effects on the rest of the ecosystem. By shortening hydroperiods, drought may have prolonged effects on seasonal wetland ecosystems; an adequate hydroperiod is crucial for aquatic macroinvertebrates to complete their life cycles and achieve reproductive maturity. In 2021, moderate drought was seen in the Chicagoland area; this resulted in either unfilled or early dry-down of wetland habitats.We report the effects of this drought event on aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. From 2020-2023, six small seasonal forested wetland sites in the Chicagoland area were sampled every April and June for macroinvertebrate communities. Abundance and diversity of the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities declined in the year following drought and shows signs of recovery two years post-drought. This study suggests that macroinvertebrate communities are strongly affected by shortened hydroperiods, and recovery may take multiple years. Since very few long-term studies have been done on macroinvertibrate response to severe drought events, our results contribute important information for understanding seasonal wetland ecosystems in the Midwest within the context of climate change. BIO: Ellie Wasilewski graduated from the University of Dayton with a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology. She is an aspiring wetland scientist interested in wetland soils and plants.