Effects of forest disturbance on leaf breakdown in southern Appalachian streams

Benfield, E. F.; Webster, Jackson R.; Golladay, Stephen W.; Peters, Gregory T.; Stout, Ben M.

doi:10.1080/03680770.1989.11899049

Cited by 22 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…During subsequent periods, however, leaf standing crops in the reference stream exceeded those in the disturbed stream (1.5, 2.6, 4.1, 5.3 times higher in January, March, May and July, respectively; J.R. Webster, unpublished data), indicating faster processing of leaf detritus in the disturbed stream. Rapid processing of litter in the disturbed stream was also noted in 1986 ( Benfield et al . 1991 ) as well as in 1991, when decomposition of chestnut oak was about 2.6 times faster in the disturbed stream (E.F. Benfield & J.J. Hutchens, personal communication).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term recovery of a mountain stream from clear‐cut logging: the effects of forest succession on benthic invertebrate community structure

1998

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1. Changes in benthic invertebrate community structure following 16 years of forest succession after logging were examined by estimating benthic invertebrate abundance, biomass and secondary production in streams draining a forested reference and a recovering clear‐cut catchment. Benthic invertebrate abundance was three times higher, and invertebrate biomass and production were two times higher in the disturbed stream. 2. Comparison of invertebrate community abundance 1, 5 and 16 years after clear‐cutting indicated that the proportion of scrapers had decreased, whereas shredders had increased. Functional group percentage similarity indicated that the invertebrate community in the disturbed stream 16 years after clear‐cutting was more similar to the reference than to that found earlier in the disturbed stream. 3. The five indices calculated from data collected over the past 16 years, as well as the abundance, biomass and production data collected during this study, proved to be of differing value in assessing recovery of the disturbed stream from logging. Percent dominant taxon and EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) taxon richness failed to show any initial differences between reference and disturbed streams, indicating that these indices may not be useful for measuring recovery from logging. The percentage Baetis and shredder–scraper indices showed significant differences only during the 1977 study and suggest recovery (no difference between reference and disturbed) by 1982. The North Carolina Biotic Index showed continued differences during 1982 in the riffle and depositional habitats and recovery by 1993. Total macroinvertebrate abundance, biomass and production, as well as EPT abundance, indicated continued differences between the reference and disturbed streams in the 1993 study.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term recovery of a mountain stream from clear‐cut logging: the effects of forest succession on benthic invertebrate community structure

1998

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“…In agricultural catchments, disturbances by human activities affect the aquatic fauna more or less directly through modifications of in-stream habitats, such as changes in the density of aquatic macrophytes (Humphries, 1996) or stream-bed clogging (Benfield et al, 1991;Hall et al, 2001). For a few years now, some experiments on the restoration of in-stream habitats have shown that the addition of coarse sediments on the stream bottom increases hydraulic exchanges between surface water and interstitial water, and thus has positive effects on aquatic invertebrates (Muotka et al, 2002;Gayraud and Philippe, 2003) and fish egg survival in Salmonidae spawning habitats (Hamor and Garside, 1976;Witzel and MacCrimmone, 1981;Malcolm et al 2003).…”

Section: Effects Of the Restoration On Invertebrate Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…canalization and dredging) and hydrology (i.e. flow regulation) induce an alteration of habitats and changes in biotic and abiotic processes in streams (Junk et al, 1989;Lancaster and Hildrew, 1993;Cellot et al, 1994;Resh et al, 1994) and (4) The increase in field size and the destruction of hedgerow networks and woody buffers heighten soil scouring and, consequently, fine sediment inputs into streams (Benfield et al, 1991;Wood and Armitage, 1997;Stevens and Cummins, 1999;Hancock, 2002). Inorganic bed sediments are thus frequently dominated by fine material in streams draining agricultural catchments, which is considered unsuitable for many aquatic invertebrates (Quinn et al, 1992;Jowett et al, 1996;Mary and Marmonier, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of bottom sediment restoration on interstitial habitat characteristics and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in a headwater stream

Sarriquet

Bordenave

Marmonier

2007

River Research & Apps

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The restoration of in-stream habitats by structural improvement of stream beds is more and more frequent, but the ecological consequences of such works are still little known. We have examined the influence of the deposit of a 15 cm gravel layer over the stream bottom on the chemical characteristics of the interstitial water, the sediment grain size and the composition of the benthic assemblages. We have compared a restored reach to an upstream control over three years and at three seasons each year. Dissolved oxygen, ammonium, nitrite and nitrate contents were measured in both surface and interstitial (À15 cm deep) waters, together with the depth of anoxia estimated using wooden stakes and fine sediment content at the surface. During the same period and seasons, benthic invertebrates were sampled at five points in each reach. The restoration induced an increase in vertical exchanges of water between surface and interstitial habitats, with an increase in the depth of hypoxia. Changes were observed in the composition of invertebrate communities, but not in the density or in the taxonomic richness of assemblages. These changes in assemblages were fragile: a local disturbance (such as a drying period) diminished the beneficial effect of the restoration with the disappearance of several organisms. The viability of such restoration works may be associated with catchment management designed to reduce fine sediment inputs to the river.

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“…Anthropogenic disturbances of aquatic ecosystems can severely affect the rate of litter processing (Sponseller & Benfield, 2001;Gessner & Chauvet, 2002;Piscart et al, 2009). Such disturbances are related to decreases in litter quantity and quality (Benfield et al, 1991;Lecerf & Chauvet, 2008a), changes in nutrient availability that modify microbial activities (Lecerf et al, 2006;Piscart et al, 2009), modifications in the density, and composition of microbial and invertebrate assemblages (Hagen et al, 2006;Lecerf & Chauvet, 2008a, b;Piscart et al, 2009), or physical disturbances of the bed sediment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relevance of large litter bag burial for the study of leaf breakdown in the hyporheic zone

et al. 2010

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International audienceParticulate organic matter is the major source of energy for most low-order streams, but a large part of this litter is buried within bed sediment during floods and thus become poorly available for benthic food webs. The fate of this buried litter is little studied. In most cases, measures of breakdown rates consist of burying a known mass of litter within the stream sediment and following its breakdown over time. We tested this method using large litter bags (15 × 15 cm) and two field experiments. First, we used litter large bags filled with Alnus glutinosa leaves (buried at 20 cm depth with a shovel) in six stations within different land-use contexts and with different sediment grain sizes. Breakdown rates were surprisingly high (0.0011-0.0188 day−1) and neither correlate with most of the physico-chemical characteristics measured in the interstitial habitats nor with the land-use around the stream. In contrast, the rates were negatively correlated with a decrease in oxygen concentrations between surface and buried bags and positively correlated with both the percentage of coarse particles (20-40 mm) in the sediment and benthic macro-invertebrate richness. These results suggest that the vertical exchanges with surface water in the hyporheic zone play a crucial role in litter breakdown. Second, an experimental modification of local sediment (removing fine particles with a shovel to increase vertical exchanges) highlighted the influence of grain size on water and oxygen exchanges, but had no effect on hyporheic breakdown rates. Burying large litter bags within sediments may thus not be a relevant method, especially in clogged conditions, due to changes induced through the burial process in the vertical connectivity between surface and interstitial habitats that modify organic matter processin

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Effects of forest disturbance on leaf breakdown in southern Appalachian streams

Cited by 22 publications

References 16 publications

Long‐term recovery of a mountain stream from clear‐cut logging: the effects of forest succession on benthic invertebrate community structure

Long‐term recovery of a mountain stream from clear‐cut logging: the effects of forest succession on benthic invertebrate community structure

Effects of bottom sediment restoration on interstitial habitat characteristics and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in a headwater stream

Relevance of large litter bag burial for the study of leaf breakdown in the hyporheic zone

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