Algae are higher-quality food resources than allochthonous plant litter for stream invertebrates, in part, because of their higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). We tested the hypothesis that algal biofilms on the surfaces of leaf litter improve the nutritional quality of terrestrial inputs for invertebrate shredders. We used a laboratory feeding experiment with 2 light levels (open and shaded) and 2 nutrient regimes (ambient and enriched) to manipulate the algal biofilms that form on leaf surfaces (Lophostemon confertus). We assessed how these treatments affected the fatty acid (FA) composition of these biofilms and the somatic growth of a stream invertebrate shredder (Anisocentropus bicoloratus, Trichoptera) that feeds on the conditioned leaf litter. Shredders reached a significantly larger size when nutrients were added, and leaf mass loss was significantly greater in these treatments than in treatments without nutrients. Shredder growth was affected significantly by leaf PUFA content, and variations in shredder PUFA content were consistent with those in leaf PUFAs. Our results suggest that high-quality algae attached to leaf litter regulated the PUFA composition and improved the somatic growth of these shredders. Our data provide evidence that the availability of high-quality algae enhances dietary use of low-quality riparian leaf litter in stream food webs.

The identification of the dominant sources of carbon supporting consumer biomass in aquatic food webs is often difficult but essential to understanding the limits to aquatic secondary production. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) is a powerful tool to estimate the contribution of different sources to consumers, but most food web studies using this approach limit analyses to a few key consumer taxa rather than measuring biomass-weighted contribution of sources to the entire community. Here we combined stable isotope analysis with standardized measurements of abundance and biomass of fishes and invertebrates in seven waterholes of a wet-dry tropical river sampled early and late in the dry season. We showed that periphyton (as opposed to phytoplankton and terrestrial C3 plant detritus) was responsible for most standing fish biomass (range 42%-97%), whereas benthic invertebrates were reliant on a mixture of the three sources (range 26%-100%). Furthermore, larger, older fishes at high trophic levels (catfish Neoarius spp., sleepy cod Oxyeleotris lineaolatus and barramundi Lates calcarifer) were supported almost exclusively by periphyton. Phytoplankton and detritus supported a considerable biomass of benthic and pelagic invertebrates, but only in taxa that occupied low trophic levels (e.g. snails). These measurements provide further evidence that although periphyton is relatively inconspicuous relative to other sources, it contributes disproportionately to metazoan biomass in wet-dry tropical rivers.

Tropical floodplains are highly productive because of seasonal replenishment of water and nutrients, which substantially boost primary productivity. This study examined how the architecture of aquatic macrophytes affect the light and water quality and consequently the attachment and biomass of epiphytes on a floodplain in northern Australia. Results show that macrophyte structural complexity is not only important for water column light penetration but also for the development of epiphytes on macrophytes. Emergent grasses with simple vertical structure and high plant densities, limit light penetration and consequently the development and biomass of epiphytic algae. In contrast, submerged macrophytes growing just below the water surface, allow greater light penetration. The complex architecture of submerged macrophytes also provides a large surface area for the development of a dense covering of epiphytic algae. Other plant structural forms (e.g., plants with floating leaves) have a simple structure, variable light penetration and low epiphytic algae biomass. The emergent grass Psuedoraphis spinescens (R.Br.) Vickery also had low light penetration but the horizontal alignment of stems across the water surface allow greater exposure to sunlight of the stems and the consequent development of epiphytic algae. We conclude that (1) the complex structure of submerged plants effectively creates a "false bottom" in deeper waters so that they function similarly to the floodplain's littoral zone, and (2) that their extremely large surface area for attachment allows greater production of epiphytic algae than would occur on the sediment surface.

The present study indicates the critical role of hydrologic connectivity in floodplain waterholes in the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia. These waterbodies provide dry-season refugia for plants and animals, are a hotspot of productivity, and are a critical part in the subsistence economy of many remote Aboriginal communities. We examined seasonal changes in water quality and aquatic plant cover of floodplain waterholes, and related changes to variation of waterhole depth and visitation by livestock. The waterholes showed declining water quality through the dry season, which was exacerbated by more frequent cattle usage as conditions became progressively drier, which also increased turbidity and nutrient concentrations. Aquatic macrophyte biomass was highest in the early dry season, and declined as the dry season progressed. Remaining macrophytes were flushed out by the first wet-season flows, although they quickly re-establish later during the wet season. Waterholes of greater depth were more resistant to the effects of cattle disturbance, and seasonal flushing of the waterholes with wet-season flooding homogenised the water quality and increased plant cover of previously disparate waterholes. Therefore, maintaining high levels of connectivity between the river and its floodplain is vital for the persistence of these waterholes.

Organic carbon cycling is a fundamental process that underpins energy transfer through the biosphere. However, little is known about the rates of particulate organic carbon processing in the hyporheic zone of intermittent streams, which is often the only wetted environment remaining when surface flows cease. We used leaf litter and cotton decomposition assays, as well as rates of microbial respiration, to quantify rates of organic carbon processing in surface and hyporheic environments of intermittent and perennial streams under a range of substrate saturation conditions. Leaf litter processing was 48% greater, and cotton processing 124% greater, in the hyporheic zone compared to surface environments when calculated over multiple substrate saturation conditions. Processing was also greater in more saturated surface environments (i.e. pools). Further, rates of microbial respiration on incubated substrates in the hyporheic zone were similar to, or greater than, rates in surface environments. Our results highlight that intermittent streams are important locations for particulate organic carbon processing and that the hyporheic zone sustains this fundamental process even without surface flow. Not accounting for carbon processing in the hyporheic zone of intermittent streams may lead to an underestimation of its local ecological significance and collective contribution to landscape carbon processes.