The contribution of metaphyton and submerged and emergent macrophytes as support to phytophilous organisms was compared from the standpoint of epiphytic chlorophyll and of invertebrate biomass, taxonomic composition and size distribution. This study was carried out in a fluvial lake of the St. Lawrence River (Lac Saint-Pierre, QuØbec) at 5 sites with chemically and physically distinct water masses. Invertebrate and epiphyton biomass were consistently higher in complex filamentous mats (overall mean: 61 AE 5 [SE] mg and 124 AE 18 mg Chl a /g vegetation dry mass, respectively) and submerged plants (overall mean: 48 AE 7 mg and 195 AE 56 mg Chl a /g vegetation d.m.) than in the simple emergent stems (overall mean: 4 AE 1 mg and 45 AE 15 mg Chl a /g vegetation d.m.). Taxonomic composition of the invertebrate communities varied largely among types of vegetation and sites. Sampling site (and hence water physical and chemical characteristics) explained a larger fraction of the variation in invertebrate composition (28 %) than vegetation type (9 %). Overall, metaphyton hosted an invertebrate fauna more abundant and more diverse, with larger organisms and more semi-aquatic taxa, than that of nearby vascular macrophytes. However, at the scale of this river segment (~300 km 2 ), metaphyton contributed < 1 % to total phytophilous invertebrate biomass compared to 96 % and 4 % for submerged and emergent plants, respectively. In the river trophic network, vascular plants thus appear to support the bulk of the food supply, which is periodically enriched and diversified by the appearance of metaphyton blooms.
We compared the biomass, taxonomic composition, and size distribution of invertebrates associated to emergent (Schoenoplectus lacustris), submerged (Myriophyllum spicatum), and floating leaved (Trapa natans) vegetation at two depths (surface and water column) during summer in Lago di Candia, Italy. Invertebrate biomass was positively related to epiphyton biomass (Chl-a). M. spicatum supported higher invertebrate biomass per unit of plant weight than S. lacustris whereas T. natans was somewhat intermediate. Depth did not affect invertebrate biomass significatively. Surface sections of M. spicatum and T. natans supported invertebrate communities with similar taxonomic composition dominated by oligochaetes and ostracods. Large hirudineans and gastropods characterized the communities on the water column sections of M. spicatum. S. lacustris and the water column sections of T. natans (composed of stems and aquatic roots) were supporting invertebrate communities dominated by copepod nauplii and lacking large organisms. Changes in aquatic vegetation in Lago di Candia following harvesting of T. natans and removal of submerged vegetation by the invasion of the rodent coypu (Miocastor coypus) may affect the invertebrate biomass of its littoral zone
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