Research Page, Dr. Barbara Hayford
MAIS: THE MONGOLIAN AQUATIC INSECT SURVEY
The Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey began as the Selenge River Project (SRP) conducted from 2003-3006. Both projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation’s Biodiversity Inventories Program through Dr. Jon Gelhaus and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia to discover, document, and describe diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates from Mongolia. The SRP and MAIS projects have fostered a spirit of international collaboration between scientists in the U.S., Mongolia, Lithuania, and other countires. Check out the MAISwebpage to find more information. I have been on expedition to collect aquatic insects in Mongolia five times, beginning in 1995 with work on Lake Hovsgol (check here for Long Term Ecological Research in Lake Hovsgol). Currently, my part in the project is to work with Chironomidae on these projects and work on biological assessment and conservation of aquatic habitat in Mongolia. My research in Mongolia has resulted in the following information:
- A
total of 238 species of Chironomidae from five subfamilies have now
been documented from Mongolia. Here is a checklist of Mongolian Chironomidae. I will add to this list as researchers continue to publish new discriptions and discoveries of Mongolian Chironomidae.
- Physical, habitat and water quality data from the SRP and MAIS aquatic habitat sites can be accessed on the MAIS web page.
- I was recently awarded an NSF Research at Undergraduate Institutions award to study the effects of range condition on chironomidae in streams of Outer Mongolia and to continue my work on documenting diversity of Chironomidae in conjunction with the MAIS project. Undergraduate students from Wayne State College will learn to collect range condition and stream quality data and will travel with me to Mongolia in the future.
- Other work on chironomids in Monglolia includes work by Ferrington and Bouchard on chironomids from lakes. Here is their Identification Guide to Chironomid Pupal Exuviae of Mongolian Lakes.