Increased disturbance from agriculture and the changing climate in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota may cause shifts in vegetation on wetland systems as well as increases in spider mite populations on soybeans. Part of this study focuses on wetlands functioning at the highest ecological state, or reference condition. Wetland plants serve as a good indicator for assessing wetland condition. The past and present Floristic Quality Index scores at each wetland site were significantly different (p < 0.05), indicating that vegetation at reference wetlands have declined in condition. Increased agriculture also leads to an increase in road dust on soybean fields, which increases the population of spider mites. Three separate experiments were completed on contained plaster arenas. These experiments produced mixed results. Spider mites produced more eggs on dusted arenas (p < 0.05) in experiment one while experiment two and three yielded the opposite result.