Relationships among nutrient enrichment, detritus quality and quantity, and large-bodied shredding insect community structure. Hydrobiologia, 753(1), pp.
219-232.Additional Information:• This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published
1Relationships among nutrient enrichment, detritus quality and quantity, and large-bodied shredding insect community structure Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment of forested headwater streams can enhance detrital 2 quality, decrease standing stocks, and alter the community structure of detrivorous insects, 3 reducing nutrient retention and decreasing ecosystem functioning. Our objective was to 4 determine if stoichiometric principles could be used to predict genus-specific shifts in 5 shredding insect abundance and biomass across a dissolved nutrient and detritus food 6 quality/quantity gradient. Detritus, insect, and water samples were collected from 12 Ozark 7Highland headwater streams. Significant correlations were found between stream nutrients 8 and detrital quality but not quantity. Abundance and biomass responses of four out of five 9 tested genera were accurately predicted by consumer-resource stoichiometric theory. Low 10 carbon:phosphorus (C:P) shredders responded positively to increased total phosphorus and/or 11 food quality, and high C:P shredders exhibited neutral or negative responses to these 12 variables. Genus specific declines were correlated with decreased overall biomass in shredder 13 assemblages, potentially causing disruptions in nutrient flows to higher level consumers with 14 nutrient enrichment. This work provides further evidence that elevated nutrients may 15 negatively impact shredding insect communities by altering the stoichiometry of detritus-16 detritivore interactions. A better understanding of stoichiometric mechanisms altering 17 macroinvertebrate populations is needed to help inform water quality criteria for the 18 management of headwater streams. 19
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