Life History of Lepidostoma hirtum in an Iberian Stream and its Role in Organic Matter Processing

Azevedo-Pereira, Henrique M.V.S.; Graça, Manuel A. S.; González, José Manuel

doi:10.1007/s10750-005-1267-1

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In our study consumption rates raised up to 0.55 mg leaf mg -1 animal d -1 for chestnut leaves suggesting that Micropterna larvae is a really efficient shredder with high capacity to consume and decompose part of the accumulated dead plant material in streams. As a matter of fact, the feeding rates recorded for M. sequax in the present study, are comparable to the reported consumption rates of other shredders fed similar leaves (AZEVEDO-PEREIRA et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Factors Affecting Leaf Litter Decomposition by Micropterna sequax (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae)

Rumbos

Stamopoulos

Georgoulas

et al. 2010

International Review of Hydrobiology

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Feeding behaviour and consumption rates of the caddisfly Micropterna sequax (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae) larvae were investigated under laboratory conditions. The consumption rates of M. sequax were measured at four temperatures (5.5, 9.5, 13 and 19 °C) and its feeding preferences among four leaf species (European beech, oak, chestnut and oriental plane) were studied. Furthermore, fresh and senescent conditioned or not beech leaves were offered to Micropterna larvae to assess the impact of the leaf age and conditioning on the larvae feeding rates. Temperature exerted a pronounced effect on the consumption rates of the larvae, the optimum temperature for feeding being 13 °C. In all the experiments, larvae showed a sound preference for chestnut leaves over the other leaves tested, with consumption rates of up to 0.55 mg leaf mg -1 animal d -1. Senescent beech leaves were clearly preferred against fresh ones, while no significant differences were recorded between the consumption rates of conditioned and non-conditioned plant material. The role of physical and chemical characteristics of the leaves possibly involved in the larvae selectivity is also discussed. IntroductionLeaf litter decomposition is a keystone biological process in mountainous streams, where autotrophic production is reduced due to shading and the main energy source for the stream biota and functioning is provided by the shed leaves of riparian trees (CUMMINS et al., 1989;WALLACE et al., 1999). Aquatic macroinvertebrate shredders play an essential role in the leaf litter breakdown in streams (WALLACE and WEBSTER, 1996;GRAÇA, 2001). Due to the feeding activities of shredders and the physical fragmentation of the leaves, the organic matter of the litter is incorporated into secondary production and large amounts of fine particulate organic matter are generated and consumed by other groups of aquatic organisms (COVICH et al., 1999;GESSNER et al., 1999;GRAÇA and CANHOTO, 2006).The litter input in mountainous streams primarily depends on the riparian vegetation and is composed from leaves from diverse plant species with different physical and chemical properties (KILLINGBECK, 1996). Many studies have shown that shredders prefer to feed on (NOLEN and PEARSON, 1993;FRIBERG and JACOBSEN, 1999;GRAÇA, 2001; RINCÓN and MARTINEZ, 2006). This selective feeding of shredders has been attributed to an array of factors including the nutrient content of the plant material (OSTROFSKY, 1997), its hardness (GRAÇA and ZIMMER, 2005) as well as the presence of plant secondary compounds that make the leaves more or less attractive (GRAÇA, 2001). Water temperature has been also shown to affect the feeding behaviour and the consumption rates of the shredders, as it is a significant determinant of their metabolism (BUZBY and PERRY, 2000;GONZÁLEZ and GRAÇA, 2003). Likewise, 'conditioning' is another important factor determining food preference patterns, with shredders usually showing preference for conditioned over non-conditioned leaves (GRAÇA, 1993;CHUNG and SUBERKRO...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Factors Affecting Leaf Litter Decomposition by Micropterna sequax (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae)

Rumbos

Stamopoulos

Georgoulas

et al. 2010

International Review of Hydrobiology

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“…This flexible feeding strategy may explain densities of shredders higher than the expected from the available resources (e.g. Gonzá lez & Graça, 2003;Azevedo-Pereira et al, 2006;Graça & Canhoto, 2006). In an ecological context, a generalist strategy makes sense if consumers inhabit environments with high variability of food resources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some typical shredders in streams of Central Portugal include the caddisflies Sericostoma vittatum Rambur (Feio & Graça, 2000;Graça et al, 2001;Gonzá lez & Graça, 2003), Lepidostoma hirtum Spence (Azevedo-Pereira et al, 2006) and Tipula spp. (Canhoto & Graça, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A laboratory study on feeding plasticity of the shredder Sericostoma vittatum Rambur (Sericostomatidae)

Carvalho

Graça

2006

Hydrobiologia

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Since litter input and availability of leaves in many streams is highly seasonal in Portugal, we investigated whether Sericostoma vittatum, a typical shredder, was able to grow using alternative food sources. To test this hypothesis we fed S. vittatum with Alnus glutinosa (alder, CPOM, coarse particulate organic matter), leaf powder from A. glutinosa and Acacia dealbata and FPOM (fine particulate organic matter) from a 5th and a >6th order river, the macrophyte Myriophyllum aquaticum and biofilm. Growth in S. vittatum was significantly influenced by the food item given (ANOVA, P = 0.0082). The food item promoting the highest growth was A. glutinosa, in the form of FPOM (6.48% day -1 ) and CPOM (4.24% day -1 ); all other forms of FPOM and biofilm provided relatively low growth rates (0.77-1.77% day -1 ). The macrophyte M. aquaticum was also used as food source by S. vittatum and promoted intermediate growth (1.96% day -1 ). Neither nitrogen, phosphorus nor caloric content was correlated with growth. However, since higher growth was achieved with alder, in the form of CPOM and FPOM, we concluded that the chemical content of food was more important for S. vittatum than the physical form of such food. This may partially explain why shredders are able to survive when leaves are scarce in streams.

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“…49 (2013) 13-19Suberkropp, 2003; Gulis et al, 2006). Detritivore growth and feeding activities are also stimulated by increases in temperature within the range observed here (Gonza´lez and Grac¸a, 2003;Azevedo-Pereira et al, 2006). However, detritivores prefer litter already colonized by fungi since it is softer, has higher nutrient concentration and is enriched with exoenzymes that aid the invertebrates in the degradation of complex polysaccharides (Grac¸a et al, 2001;Canhoto and Grac¸a, 2008;Chung and Suberkropp, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Annual organic matter dynamics in a small temperate mountain stream

Ferreira

Lírio

Rosa

et al. 2013

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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-Temperate streams flowing through deciduous forests derive most of their energy and carbon from allochthonous organic matter supplied by the riparian vegetation mostly during the autumnal litter fall. The decomposition of this coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) supports the aquatic foodwebs throughout the year. During the decomposition process, part of the CPOM is converted into fine particulate organic matter (FPOM). In this study, we assessed the relationships among decomposition rates of a dominant litter species, oak leaf litter (estimated by the litter bag approach in the presence and absence of macroinvertebrates), benthic CPOM stock and FPOM flux over 12 months in a temperate mountain oligotrophic stream. We also assessed the relationship between these organic matter variables and environmental variables over the same period. As expected from the seasonality in temperature, litter decomposition rates varied over the year and were positively correlated with water temperature and dissolved phosphorus concentration. However, benthic CPOM stock did not significantly change over the year; the higher rainfall in winter and the higher litter decomposition in spring might have compensated for each other in keeping the CPOM stock fairly constant year round. FPOM flux was positively correlated with litter decomposition rates as expected, and this relationship was primarily driven by the activities of detritivores and not of microbes. We can anticipate changes in the carbon cycle, both locally and downstream, if oligotrophic montane streams are subjected to temperature increases (e.g., due to removal of riparian vegetation or in a global warming scenario) and nutrient enrichment from effluents or agricultural activities.

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Life History of Lepidostoma hirtum in an Iberian Stream and its Role in Organic Matter Processing

Cited by 33 publications

References 33 publications

Factors Affecting Leaf Litter Decomposition by Micropterna sequax (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae)

Factors Affecting Leaf Litter Decomposition by Micropterna sequax (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae)

A laboratory study on feeding plasticity of the shredder Sericostoma vittatum Rambur (Sericostomatidae)

Annual organic matter dynamics in a small temperate mountain stream

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