Distribution and trophic dynamics of riparian tetragnathid spiders in a large river system

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paradzayi Tagwireyi ◽  
S. Mažeika P. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Insects ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
River System ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Large River ◽  
Trophic Dynamics ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
Small Streams ◽  
Insect Density

Development and agriculture are increasingly encroaching into riparian areas, with largely unknown effects on nearshore arthropods, which are important components of linked aquatic–terrestrial food webs. To assess the environmental determinants of the distribution and trophic dynamics of riparian spiders of the family Tetragnathidae, we characterised riparian habitat, collected emergent aquatic insects, and surveyed spiders in developed and rural landscapes of the Scioto River system, Ohio, USA, which provided a range of riparian land cover, nearshore vegetation types and habitat complexity. We also estimated the trophic position (TP) of Tetragnathidae and the proportion of energetic and nutritional subsidies derived from benthic algae (EBA) using naturally abundant carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotopes. Model-selection results revealed that tetragnathid spider density (1.57–3.80individualsm–1) was more sensitive to differences in overhanging vegetation than to those in aquatic food resources (i.e. emergent aquatic insects). Tetragnathidae TP, which averaged 3.16 across all 12 study reaches (range: 2.35–3.98), was largely driven by canopy density, shoreline shape, percentage overhanging vegetation and emergent-insect density. Emergent-insect density was the strongest driver of tetragnathid spider EBA (0.04–0.54, µ=0.24). Our study reinforced the notion that riparian spiders ecologically link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In particular, our results further current understanding of the mechanisms affecting riparian spider distribution and trophic dynamics, particularly in the context of larger stream and river systems, given that the propensity of related research has occurred in small streams.

scholarly journals Size-Dependent Trophic Patterns of Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon in a Large River System

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. French ◽  
Brian D. S. Graeb ◽  
Katie N. Bertrand ◽  
Steven R. Chipps ◽  
Robert A. Klumb
Keyword(s):  
South Dakota ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
River System ◽  
Large River ◽  
Diet Shift ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Shovelnose Sturgeon ◽  
Pallid Sturgeon

Abstract This study compared patterns of δ15N and δ13C enrichment of pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus and shovelnose sturgeon S. platorynchus in the Missouri River, United States, to infer their trophic position in a large river system. We examined enrichment and energy flow for pallid sturgeon in three segments of the Missouri River (Montana/North Dakota, Nebraska/South Dakota, and Nebraska/Iowa) and made comparisons between species in the two downstream segments (Nebraska/South Dakota and Nebraska/Iowa). Patterns in isotopic composition for pallid sturgeon were consistent with gut content analyses indicating an ontogenetic diet shift from invertebrates to fish prey at sizes of >500-mm fork length (FL) in all three segments of the Missouri River. Isotopic patterns revealed shovelnose sturgeon did not experience an ontogenetic shift in diet and used similar prey resources as small (<500-mm FL) pallid sturgeon in the two downstream segments. We found stable isotope analysis to be an effective tool for evaluating the trophic position of sturgeons within a large river food web.

scholarly journals Ecosystem size and flooding drive trophic dynamics of riparian spiders in a fire-prone Sierra Nevada river system

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Breeanne K. Jackson ◽  
S. Mažeika P. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Piecewise Linear ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
River System ◽  
Trophic Dynamics ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Web Architecture ◽  
Ecosystem Size

Disturbance can play an important role in structuring stream food webs. Although floods have received the greatest attention as a disturbance agent in rivers, wildfire — which can strongly influence fluvial ecosystem structure and function — may also drive consumer trophic dynamics. We measured the relative effects of wildfire, hydrologic disturbance, ecosystem size, and canopy openness (as a proxy for in-stream productivity) on trophic position and reliance on aquatically-derived nutritional subsidies of riparian spiders of the family Tetragnathidae along two rivers on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada in California, USA. Ecosystem size received strong support as an environmental determinant of both trophic measures, with variability in flood magnitude emerging as an important mechanism linking ecosystem size and trophic responses. Piecewise linear regression revealed significant breakpoints in spider trophic position and reliance on aquatically-derived nutritional subsidies that were related to thresholds in fire extent within the catchment. These nonlinear relationships with wildfire may lend additional insight into the potential interactions among ecosystem size, productivity, and disturbance that determine stream–riparian food-web architecture.

Impacts of the Eurasian round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) on benthic communities in the upper St. Lawrence River

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Kipp ◽  
Anthony Ricciardi
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Round Goby ◽  
River System ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Large River ◽  
Neogobius Melanostomus ◽  
Benthivorous Fish ◽  
Ecosystem Impacts ◽  
St Lawrence River

An invasive benthivorous fish, the Eurasian round goby ( Neogobius melanostomus ) is abundant throughout the lower Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River system. We examined the round goby’s potential to alter benthic communities on cobble substrates in the upper St. Lawrence River. During the summers of 2008 and 2009, macroinvertebrates and benthic algae were sampled across sites with varying goby densities. Archived data from various sites in 2004–2006 (prior to invasion) were available for comparison. Macroinvertebrate community composition varied significantly among samples grouped into categories based on goby density and time since invasion. Macroinvertebrate diversity and dominance by large-bodied taxa declined with increasing goby density. Surprisingly, dreissenid biomass did not vary consistently with goby density, in contrast to studies in the Great Lakes. The biomass of all non-dreissenid taxa was negatively correlated with increasing goby density across sites and over time at three of four sites. Negative effects were most pronounced on the biomass of gastropods. Benthic algal biomass increased with goby density across sites, suggesting a trophic cascade driven by the impacts of gobies on gastropods and other algivores. Our study highlights the potential ecosystem impacts of an expanding goby population in a large river.

scholarly journals Cross-Ecosystem Linkages: Transfer of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids From Streams to Riparian Spiders via Emergent Insects

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Kowarik ◽  
Dominik Martin-Creuzburg ◽  
Christopher T. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Aquatic Insects ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Stearidonic Acid ◽  
Selective Foraging ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Total Fatty Acids ◽  
Web Building

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential resources unequally distributed throughout landscapes. Certain PUFAs, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are common in aquatic but scarce in terrestrial ecosystems. In environments with low PUFA availability, meeting nutritional needs requires either adaptations in metabolism to PUFA-poor resources or selective foraging for PUFA-rich resources. Amphibiotic organisms that emerge from aquatic ecosystems represent important resources that can be exploited by predators in adjacent terrestrial habitats. Here, we traced PUFA transfer from streams to terrestrial ecosystems, considering benthic algae as the initial PUFA source, through emergent aquatic insects to riparian spiders. We combined carbon stable isotope and fatty acid analyses to follow food web linkages across the ecosystem boundary and investigated the influence of spider lifestyle (web building vs. ground dwelling), season, and ecosystem degradation on PUFA relations. Our data revealed that riparian spiders consumed considerable amounts of aquatic-derived resources. EPA represented on average 15 % of the total fatty acids in riparian spiders. Season had a strong influence on spider PUFA profiles, with highest EPA contents in spring. Isotope data revealed that web-building spiders contain more aquatic-derived carbon than ground dwelling spiders in spring, although both spider types had similarly high EPA levels. Comparing a natural with an anthropogenically degraded fluvial system revealed higher stearidonic acid (SDA) contents and Σω3/Σω6 ratios in spiders collected along the more natural river in spring but no difference in spider EPA content between systems. PUFA profiles of riparian spiders where distinct from other terrestrial organism and more closely resembled that of emergent aquatic insects (higher Σω3/Σω6 ratio). We show here that the extent to which riparian spiders draw on aquatic PUFA subsidies can vary seasonally and depends on the spider’s lifestyle, highlighting the complexity of aquatic-terrestrial linkages.

scholarly journals The Isotope Hydrology of a Large River System Regulated for Hydropower

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Soulsby ◽  
C. Birkel ◽  
J. Geris ◽  
D. Tetzlaff
Keyword(s):  
River System ◽  
Large River ◽  
Isotope Hydrology

scholarly journals ORCHILEAK (revision 3875): a new model branch to simulate carbon transfers along the terrestrial–aquatic continuum of the Amazon basin

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3821-3859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronny Lauerwald ◽  
Pierre Regnier ◽  
Marta Camino-Serrano ◽  
Bertrand Guenet ◽  
Matthieu Guimberteau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
River System ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
New Model ◽  
Canopy Soil ◽  
C Cycle

Abstract. Lateral transfer of carbon (C) from terrestrial ecosystems into the inland water network is an important component of the global C cycle, which sustains a large aquatic CO2 evasion flux fuelled by the decomposition of allochthonous C inputs. Globally, estimates of the total C exports through the terrestrial–aquatic interface range from 1.5 to 2.7 Pg C yr−1 (Cole et al., 2007; Battin et al., 2009; Tranvik et al., 2009), i.e. of the order of 2–5 % of the terrestrial NPP. Earth system models (ESMs) of the climate system ignore these lateral transfers of C, and thus likely overestimate the terrestrial C sink. In this study, we present the implementation of fluvial transport of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and CO2 into ORCHIDEE (Organising Carbon and Hydrology in Dynamic Ecosystems), the land surface scheme of the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace ESM. This new model branch, called ORCHILEAK, represents DOC production from canopy and soils, DOC and CO2 leaching from soils to streams, DOC decomposition, and CO2 evasion to the atmosphere during its lateral transport in rivers, as well as exchange with the soil carbon and litter stocks on floodplains and in swamps. We parameterized and validated ORCHILEAK for the Amazon basin, the world's largest river system with regard to discharge and one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. With ORCHILEAK, we are able to reproduce observed terrestrial and aquatic fluxes of DOC and CO2 in the Amazon basin, both in terms of mean values and seasonality. In addition, we are able to resolve the spatio-temporal variability in C fluxes along the canopy–soil–water continuum at high resolution (1°, daily) and to quantify the different terrestrial contributions to the aquatic C fluxes. We simulate that more than two-thirds of the Amazon's fluvial DOC export are contributed by the decomposition of submerged litter. Throughfall DOC fluxes from canopy to ground are about as high as the total DOC inputs to inland waters. The latter, however, are mainly sustained by litter decomposition. Decomposition of DOC and submerged plant litter contributes slightly more than half of the CO2 evasion from the water surface, while the remainder is contributed by soil respiration. Total CO2 evasion from the water surface equals about 5 % of the terrestrial NPP. Our results highlight that ORCHILEAK is well suited to simulate carbon transfers along the terrestrial–aquatic continuum of tropical forests. It also opens the perspective that provided parameterization, calibration and validation is performed for other biomes, the new model branch could improve the quantification of the global terrestrial C sink and help better constrain carbon cycle–climate feedbacks in future projections.

scholarly journals Effects of Weir Construction on Phytoplankton Assemblages and Water Quality in a Large River System

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 2348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hae-Jin Lee ◽  
Hae-Kyung Park ◽  
Se-Uk Cheon
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
River System ◽  
Large River ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Centric Diatom ◽  
Nakdong River ◽  
Biological Variables ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
The Nakdong River

Flow regulation is one of the most common anthropogenic factors affecting rivers worldwide. In Korea, 16 weirs were constructed along four major rivers from 2009 to 2012. This study aimed to elucidate initial changes in physical, chemical, and biological variables after the construction of consecutive weirs on the Nakdong River, a major large river system. Water quality variables and phytoplankton cell densities were investigated at eight representative sites and compared with the data recorded before the weir construction. There were spatial and temporal changes in the hydraulic retention time (HRT), total phosphorus (TP), and chlorophyll a concentrations among the eight weir sections. HRT increased after the weir construction, while TP and chlorophyll a tended to decrease from the middle to lower section of the Nakdong River. Furthermore, differences were observed in the phytoplankton community composition between 2006–2007 and 2013. There was a marginal decrease in the duration of centric diatom (Stephanodiscus hantzschii) blooms after weir construction. However, Microcystis aeruginosa proliferated more extensively during summer and autumn than it did before the weir construction. Our results suggest that changes in hydrological factors, in response to consecutive weir construction, may contribute to greater physical, chemical, and ecological variability.

Catch‐related and genetic outcome of adult northern pike Esox lucius stocking in a large river system

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 1107-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Guillerault ◽  
Géraldine Loot ◽  
Simon Blanchet ◽  
Frederic Santoul
Keyword(s):  
River System ◽  
Northern Pike ◽  
Esox Lucius ◽  
Large River ◽  
Pike Esox Lucius
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