Demmey DeJong Michael J. Anteau Megan J. Fitzpatrick Breanna R. Keith Emily G. Schilling Barry Thoele Danelle M. Larson 2022 <div id="Abs1-section" class="c-article-section"><div id="Abs1-content" class="c-article-section__content"><p>Conservation programs often aim to protect the abundance of individual species and biodiversity simultaneously. We quantified relations between amphipod densities and aquatic macrophyte (large plants and algae) diversity to test a hypothesis that biodiversity can support high abundance of a single taxonomic group. Amphipods (<i>Gammarus lacustris</i><span>&nbsp;</span>and<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Hyalella azteca</i>) are key forage for waterfowl and are declining in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. We sampled a large gradient of amphipod densities (0–7050 amphipods/m³) in 49 semi-permanent wetlands, and 50% of the study wetlands had high amphipod densities (&gt; 500 amphipods/m³). Generalized linear models revealed<span>&nbsp;</span><i>G. lacustris</i><span>&nbsp;</span>and<span>&nbsp;</span><i>H. azteca</i><span>&nbsp;</span>densities increased exponentially with macrophyte diversity indices. Further,<span>&nbsp;</span><i>H. azteca</i><span>&nbsp;</span>densities were greatest at moderate levels of submersed vegetation biomass. Community analyses showed both amphipod species were positively associated with diverse macrophyte assemblages and negatively associated with high coverage of cattails (<i>Typha</i><span>&nbsp;</span>spp.), a taxon that creates monotypic stands, as well as bladderwort (<i>Utricularia</i><span>&nbsp;</span>spp.), a carnivorous plant. Our results indicate that amphipods could be used as an umbrella species for protecting diverse macrophyte communities in semi-permanent and permanent wetlands of North America’s Prairie Pothole Region.</p></div></div> application/pdf 10.1007/s10531-022-02379-9 en Society for Conservation Biology High abundance of a single taxon (amphipods) predicts aquatic macrophyte biodiversity in prairie wetlands article