Long-term effects of resource limitation on stream invertebrate drift

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1624-1637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward R Siler ◽  
J Bruce Wallace ◽  
S L Eggert
Keyword(s):  
Woody Debris ◽  
Resource Limitation ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Invertebrate Drift ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Western North Carolina ◽  
Invertebrate Abundance ◽  
Reference Stream ◽  
Small Woody Debris

We examined the effects of resource limitation on stream invertebrate drift by reducing inputs of terrestrial detritus to a headwater stream in western North Carolina. In the treatment stream, leaf-litter was excluded for 6 years (September 1993 – August 1999), small woody debris was removed for 2 years (September 1996 – August 1998), and large and small woody debris was removed for 1 year (September 1998 – August 1999). Invertebrate abundance in the drift was significantly lower in the treatment stream during the study, but total biomass of invertebrate drift was similar. Although drift densities were higher in the reference stream, a greater proportion of total benthic invertebrate abundance and biomass drifted out of the treatment stream. The proportion of shredder, gatherer, and predator benthic abundance in the drift was significantly greater in the treatment stream, but scraper proportions were higher in the reference stream and filterer proportions were similar for the two streams. Combined data from both streams indicated that the relationship between drift densities and benthic abundance was positive and significant. Our results demonstrate that bottom-up effects of resource reduction in a detrital-based stream influence invertebrate drift, increasing the proportion of the benthic community emigrating from the detritus-poor stream.

scholarly journals The effects of riparian forestry on invertebrate drift and brown trout in upland streams of contrasting acidity

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 578-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Ormerod ◽  
M. E. Jones ◽  
M. C. Jones ◽  
D. R. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Brown Trout ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Acid Sites ◽  
Invertebrate Drift ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Invertebrate Abundance ◽  
Drift Density

Abstract. Variations in macroinvertebrate drift and benthic invertebrate abundance were assessed in 30 upland Welsh streams of varying acidity (pH < 5.7 or pH.> 6.0) and riparian land-use (conifer, moorland or native broadleaf). The consequences for the diet and condition of wild brown trout Salmo trutta were also assessed. As expected from previous studies, there were significant reductions in benthic invertebrate abundance, aquatic drift density (by >60%), aquatic drift biomass (by >35%), total drift density (by >35%) and total drift biomass (by >20%) at acid sites by comparison with circumneutral sites due largely to the scarcity of mayflies. Absolute drift from terrestrial sources was unrelated to stream pH but formed a significantly greater proportion of total drift at acid sites (30-65% of density) than at circumneutral sites (20-40%) as aquatic contributions declined. Most of this apparent land use effect reflected significantly increased terrestrial drift under broadleaves. There was no significant reduction in terrestrial or aquatic drift at conifer forest sites per se after accounting for low pH. Trout diet varied substantially between locations partly reflecting variations in drift: significantly fewer mayflies and stoneflies were eaten at acid sites, and significantly more terrestrial prey were eaten under broadleaves. However, acidity did not reduce trout condition or gut-fullness. Unexpectedly, trout condition was significantly enhanced at conifer sites, irrespective of their pH. Hence, acidity has greater effects on the benthic abundance and drift density of invertebrates in upland streams than does riparian land use. However, trout forage flexibly enough to offset any possible food deficit, for example by switching to chironomids and terrestrial invertebrates. Enhanced terrestrial contributions to invertebrate drift from riparian broadleaf trees may be important in supplementing foraging opportunities for trout where aquatic prey are scarce. These data illustrate the value of native tree species in riparian locations in upland Britain and the energy subsidy they provide might well be disproportionately important for otherwise impoverished acid streams Keywords: brown trout, land-use, acidification, drift, forestry, streams

The influence of an ecosystem-level manipulation on prey consumption by a lotic dragonfly

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bruce Wallace ◽  
T. F. Cuffney ◽  
C. C. Lay ◽  
D. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Initial Treatment ◽  
Standing Stock ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Invertebrate Drift ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Total Abundance ◽  
Stock Biomass ◽  
Reference Stream ◽  
Invertebrate Biomass

Pesticide application to a small headwater stream (treatment stream) resulted in massive invertebrate drift and altered community structure with respect to both biomasses and densities. The community changed from one dominated by insects to one of primarily noninsects. Insects represented 71 to 78% of total abundance and about 95% of total biomass in an adjacent reference stream during 2 years of study. During the initial treatment year, insects, mainly Chironomidae, composed less than 20% of total invertebrate biomass (<10% of abundance) in litterbags in the treatment stream. Within 2 years of the initial disturbance, invertebrate biomass in the treatment stream was again dominated by insects (90% of total) although insects represented only 36% of total abundance. Lanthus vernalis Carle (Odonata: Gomphidae) was among the insect taxa least affected by the treatment. Diets of larval Lanthus (gut analyses) reflected changes in community structure within the treatment stream, with insects representing only 13% of the prey during the initial treatment year and more than 82% during the 2nd year of recovery. In contrast, Lanthus in the reference stream consumed primarily insects (73 to 78%) in both years. These data indicate that generalist predators such as Lanthus can readily shift to alternative prey when confronted by massive changes in community structure. The results suggest that this disturbance reduced the abundance of the more profitable prey to a level where less profitable prey increased in the diet. Following the disturbance, Lanthus consumption reflected the recovery of more profitable prey in the environment. Secondary production of Lanthus approached 27% of average standing stock biomass of invertebrates in litterbags in each stream and, based on literature values for bioenergetic efficiencies, Lanthus consumed about 65% of the average standing stock biomass of invertebrates. Total consumption necessary to support production of all invertebrate predators may exceed the average standing stock prey biomass by 2.5 to 2.7 times. However, when prey turnover is considered, the potential impact of this predation on invertebrate community structure may be quite modest.

Long-Term Effects of Large Woody Debris Addition on Stream Habitat and Brook Trout Populations

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Sweka ◽  
Kyle J. Hartman ◽  
Jonathan M. Niles
Keyword(s):  
Brook Trout ◽  
Habitat Complexity ◽  
Salvelinus Fontinalis ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Large Woody Debris ◽  
Stream Habitat ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Habitat Manipulation ◽  
Central Appalachians

Abstract In this study, we resurveyed stream habitat and sampled brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis populations 6 y after large woody debris additions to determine long-term changes in habitat and brook trout populations. In a previous study, we added large woody debris to eight streams in the central Appalachians of West Virginia to determine whether stream habitat could be enhanced and brook trout populations increased following habitat manipulation. The large woody debris additions had no overall effect on stream habitat and brook trout populations by 6 y after the additions. The assumption that a lack of large woody debris is limiting stream habitat and brook trout populations was not supported by our results. In high-gradient streams, habitat complexity may be governed more by the abundance of boulders and large woody debris may have a lesser influence on trout populations.

Diversity patterns in subarctic stream benthic invertebrate assemblages from the Sahtu Settlement Area, Northwest Territories, Canada

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Vinke ◽  
A.S. Medeiros ◽  
D.J. Giberson
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Generic Level ◽  
Family Diversity ◽  
The North ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Invertebrate Assemblages

Benthic invertebrate assemblages were studied across four streams in the Sahtu Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories between July 2010 and October 2011 to provide information on biotic composition and associations with habitat and temporal factors. Overall diversity was similar for all streams, although taxonomic composition varied among the streams. Within streams, richness was highest in riffle and snag (woody debris) habitats and lowest in pools and leafpacks. A substantial portion of taxa (∼25%) would have been missed if only riffles had been sampled. Nearly 88% of individuals belonged to eight taxa, with >60% of individuals found in only two families (Chironomidae and Baetidae). While high within-family diversity was observed, samples were also characterized by large numbers of rare taxa, with large temporal differences in abundances. Future benthic assessments in northern streams would benefit from increased sampling effort to ensure representative samples for comparing streams or sites and approaches that target dominant families in the north (e.g., Chironomidae), which can provide a great deal of information on biodiversity when examined at the generic level. Likewise, further analysis of the seasonal compositional turnover for some assemblages may be necessary to distinguish anthropogenic responses from natural variability.

Impacts of small woody debris on slurrying, persistence, and propagation in a low-gradient channel of the Dongyuege debris flow in Nu River, Southwest China

Landslides ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 2279-2293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Jun Tang ◽  
Ze-Min Xu ◽  
Tai-Qiang Yang ◽  
Zhen-Hua Zhou ◽  
Kun Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Gradient Channel ◽  
Nu River ◽  
Small Woody Debris

scholarly journals Ground-Dwelling Invertebrate Abundance Positively Related to Volume of Logging Residues in the Southern Appalachians, USA

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1149
Author(s):  
April D. Boggs ◽  
Christopher E. Moorman ◽  
Dennis W. Hazel ◽  
Cathryn H. Greenberg ◽  
D. Magdalena Sorger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Type ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Taxonomic Resolution ◽  
Trap Level ◽  
White Pine ◽  
Rove Beetles ◽  
Logging Residues ◽  
Sustainability Strategies ◽  
Western North Carolina ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren

Invertebrates, especially those dependent on woody debris for a portion of their life cycle, may be greatly impacted by the amount of downed wood retained following timber harvests. To document relationships between invertebrates and logging residues, we sampled invertebrates with pitfall traps placed near or far from woody debris in 10 recently (2013–2015) harvested sites in western North Carolina with varying levels of woody debris retention. We measured the groundcover and microclimate at each trap and estimated site-level woody debris volume. We modeled predictors (e.g., site-level woody debris volume, percent woody debris cover at the trap site, site type) of captures of spiders (Araneae), harvestmen (Opiliones), centipedes/millipedes (Chilopoda/Diplopoda), ground beetles (Carabidae), rove beetles (Staphylinidae), other beetles, ants (Formicidae), grasshoppers (Acrididae/Tetrigidae), crickets (Gryllidae), and cave crickets (Rhaphidophoridae). In addition, we modeled ant occurrence at a finer taxonomic resolution, including red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren) and 13 other genera/species. Forest type, whether hardwood or white pine (Pinus strobus L.) overstory preharvest, was a predictor of invertebrate response for 21 of 24 taxonomic analyses. Invertebrate captures or the occurrence probability of ants increased with increasing site-level woody debris volume for 13 of the 24 taxa examined and increased with increasing coarse woody debris (CWD; diameter ≥ 10 cm) cover at the trap level for seven of 24 taxa examined. Our results indicate that woody debris in harvested sites is important for the conservation of a majority of the taxa we studied, which is likely because of the unique microclimate offered near/under woody debris. Stand-scale factors typically were more important predictors of invertebrate response than trap-level cover of woody debris. We recommend implementing sustainability strategies (e.g., Biomass Harvesting Guidelines) to retain woody debris scattered across harvested sites to aid in the conservation of invertebrates.

The ratio of total to merchantable forest biomass and its application to the global carbon budget

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Carter Johnson ◽  
David M. Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Global Carbon Budget ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Carbon Losses ◽  
Global Carbon ◽  
Level Analysis

Records of merchantable forest volumes can be used to estimate rates of carbon storage or depletion using a ratio to convert merchantable weights to total forest biomass (T/M ratio). We present evidence that the T/M ratio used to estimate carbon storage in midlatitude forests has been seriously underestimated by neglecting carbon in trees of unmerchantable size and quality and in coarse and fine litter. Ratios for forest types and size classes in Virginia based on detailed plot-level analysis ranged from 2.1 to 5.0; the mean weighted ratio of 2.7 was 55% greater than a ratio currently in use. More general analysis indicated that the T/M ratio for Virginia was representative of forests of the East; forests of the western United States were comparable to those of the East when woody debris was included in the estimate of total biomass. Application of the weighted ratio to growth of United States forests during 1952–1977 yielded a per-annum accretion of carbon in biomass (excluding soil carbon) of 0.15 Gt C•year−1, about 10% of the 1.6–1.9 Gt C•year−1 computed for midlatitude forests. More complete studies of counterbalancing carbon losses from forests, particularly losses in litter and soils after forest harvest and conversion to agriculture, are needed before the source or sink nature of midlatitude forests can be determined with confidence.

Response of the Cache Creek macroinvertebrates during the first 10 years following disturbance by the 1988 Yellowstone wildfires

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1077-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Wayne Minshall ◽  
Todd V Royer ◽  
Christopher T Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Taxa Richness ◽  
Site Coefficients ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Reference Stream ◽  
Stream Size

We evaluated the effects of disturbance on stream benthic macroinvertebrates at the ecological scales of time, stream size, and burn extent in six segments of Cache Creek over the first 10 postfire years. Postfire changes in macroinvertebrate taxa richness, density, and dominant taxa in the burn streams were significantly different from those in the reference stream. Chironomidae and Baetis typically comprised 40–60% of the macroinvertebrate assemblages of burned streams but only 15–18% of the assemblage in the reference site. Coefficients of variation for the 10-year period indicated that richness, density, biomass, and Baetis abundance were more variable (1.2–3.5 times higher) in the burn streams than in the reference stream and that variability in Chironomidae abundance in burn sites increased with stream size. Fire effects were not attenuated progressively with increasing stream size, probably because the proportion of the catchment burned did not decrease. However, similar-sized streams in which 68–71% of their catchments burned were more severely disturbed than those in which only 39–47% burned. Long-term effects on the macroinvertebrate community were due largely to the loss of terrestrial vegetation and increased runoff, which caused severe alterations in stream channel conditions and large-scale bedload movement.

Effects of fish predation in erosional and depositional habitats in a temperate stream

2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1369-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Resource Limitation ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Invertebrate Community ◽  
Ceramic Tiles ◽  
Organic Detritus ◽  
Predation Effects ◽  
Temperate Stream

Combined effects of predation by benthic and drift-foraging fish (prickly sculpin (Cottus asper) and coho salmon (Onchorhynchus kisutch) parr) on benthic invertebrate community and trophic structure were evaluated in Mayfly Creek, a previously fishless stream in the Coast Range Mountains of British Columbia. The role of microhabitat (substrate) in mediating predation effects was assessed by comparing invertebrate community structure on unglazed ceramic tiles and gravel baskets nested within enclosures. The role of macrohabitat was evaluated by placing enclosures in pool and riffle habitats. Effects of fish predation were most pronounced on tile substrate and in riffle habitat and least pronounced on gravel substrate in pool habitat. The presence of fish caused a decrease in abundance of larger-bodied herbivores (primarily the mayflies Ameletus and Baetis) and had positive indirect effects on algae and smaller invertebrates (primarily Orthocladiinae chironomids and nemourid stoneflies), probably through competitive release. In contrast with herbivores, detritivorous invertebrates were less influenced by fish predation and more highly correlated with the abundance of organic detritus. The distribution and abundance of detritivores in Mayfly Creek appear to be primarily influenced by bottom-up forces (implying resource limitation), while grazers in algal-based food chains are more strongly influenced by top-down effects (fish predation).

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