Relationships between Size Structure of Invertebrate Assemblages and Trophy and Substrate Composition in Streams

Bourassa, Nathalie; Morin, Antoine

doi:10.2307/1467205

Cited by 81 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Some marine and limnic environments have shown a bimodal spectrum (Schwinghamer 1983, Gerlach et al 1985, Warwick & Joint 1987, Poff et al 1993, while some have shown a more unimodal spectrum (Strayer 1986, Monn & Nadon 1991, Bourassa & Morin 1995. Hanson et al (1989) found a bimodal spectrum; however, both modes occur entirely within the macrobenthic size ranges and do not reflect differences sensu Schwinghamer (1981).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sensitivity of a benthic, metazoan, biomass size spectrum to differences in sediment granulometry

Duplisea¹,

Drgas²

1999

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Benthic biomass size spectra of meiofauna and macrofauna (BBSS) were examined at 4 sites in the Asko area, on the Swedish coast of the northern Baltic Sea proper. The sites ranged in median sediment grain size from a coarse sand (680 pm) to mud (c63 pm). Previous empirical work and theory suggests that BBSS are bimodal where sediment granulometry permits the existence of both fauna that live interstitially and those that burrow; each biomass mode reflects constraints on organism body size for each activity. Two hypotheses based on this theory are tested here: (1) BBSS are bimodal in sediments which support both an interstitial and burrowing fauna and (2) the biomass trough between modes of the spectrum changes consistently with sediment grain size. None of the BBSS from any of the sites were bimodal; thus, the first hypothesis was rejected. Shapes of spectra varied somewhat among sites but showed no consistent difference related to sediment granulometry; thus, the second hypothesis was rejected. To further test these hypotheses, spectra were conf~ned to infauna by removing the surface sediment layer (0 to 1 cm), thereby removing epibenthic fauna. Both hypotheses were once again rejected when the spectra consisted of only infauna.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sensitivity of a benthic, metazoan, biomass size spectrum to differences in sediment granulometry

Duplisea¹,

Drgas²

1999

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Stream invertebrates are strongly related to benthic substrate size (Rabeni amd Minshall 1977;Hawkins 1982), composition (Allan 1975;Erman and Erman 1984;Bourassa and Morin 1995) and texture (Downes et al 2000). As the proportion of sand and clay fines in substrate composition increases, invertebrate assemblage is altered Richards et al 1993), richness is reduced and abundance is decreased (Bourassa and Mourin 1995).…”

Section: Impact Of Excessive Fine Sediment On Invertebratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroinvertebrates and Excessive Fine Sediment Conditions in Oregon Coastal Streams

Edwards¹

2000

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The Pacific Coastal ecoregion contains large tracts of economically important forestlands that also serve as critical stream habitat for endangered Salmonids. Excessive fine sediment deposition in streams of this region is a major environmental concern in the region but difficult to measure directly. The use of stream invertebrates to monitor fine sediment conditions in streams requires careful consideration of several important factors that complicate their use as bioindicators including high spatial and temporal variability and covariance with other environmental variables.To evaluate the use of stream invertebrates as bioindicators of excessive fine sediment, three hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis was that invertebrates would be related to broad-scale climate variables (Chapter 2). The second hypothesis was that functional aspects of the invertebrate community would serve as useful indicators of excessive fine sediment condition. (Chapter 3). The third hypothesis was that invertebrates in streams with naturally high levels of sediment would be tolerant to fine sediment (<2 mm, Chapter 4). Hypotheses were tested using a temporal data set at two streams in western Oregon, spatial data from 214 sites across the Oregon Coast Range, and in-situ experiment conducted in streams with erosive or resistant geologies.In the temporal study, both invertebrate density and functional traits were iii Acknowledgements

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“…In aquatic ecosystems, nutrient enrichment can alter total consumer biomass and production (Sarda et al 1996;Slavik et al 2004;Cross et al 2006) as well as shift community composition and body size distributions (Sprules and Munawar 1986;Bourassa and Morin 1995;Cyr et al 1997). In autotrophic ecosystems, reported shifts in body size distributions have largely been attributed to top-down and bottom-up effects via size-selective predation and exploitative competition for resources (Brooks and Dodson 1965;Finlay et al 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, when predators preferentially consume large-bodied prey, enrichment can increase the relative dominance of smaller bodied prey (Brooks and Dodson 1965;Finlay et al 2007). Conversely, when predators do not focus on large-bodied prey, enrichment of autotrophic food webs can increase the relative dominance of large primary consumers because of associated increases in the quality (lower C : N, C : P, or both) and quantity of basal resources (Sprules and Munawar 1986;Bourassa and Morin 1995). In addition to such community-level responses, population-level size structure can be altered by enrichment because of increased individual growth rates and maximum body sizes, particularly among those taxa that exhibit indeterminate growth (Lurling and Van Donk 1997;Boersma and Kreutzer 2002;Slavik et al 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient enrichment differentially affects body sizes of primary consumers and predators in a detritus‐based stream

Davis

Rosemond

Eggert

et al. 2010

Limnology & Oceanography

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We assessed how a 5-yr nutrient enrichment affected the responses of different size classes of primary consumers and predators in a detritus-based headwater stream. We hypothesized that alterations in detritus availability because of enrichment would decrease the abundance and biomass of large-bodied consumers. In contrast, we found that 2 yr of enrichment increased the biomass and abundance of all consumers regardless of body size. Furthermore, during the fourth and fifth year of enrichment, the abundance and biomass of largebodied primary consumers continued to increase, while small-bodied primary consumers returned to pretreatment levels. The size structure of a dominant primary consumer (Pycnopsyche spp.) also shifted during the 5-yr enrichment: its average and maximum individual body size increased in the treatment stream compared with the reference stream. Positive enrichment effects also occurred on small-bodied predators, but not on large-bodied predators. Thus, enrichment increased prey body size, but these positive effects on large prey did not propagate up to higher trophic levels to affect large predators. Because consumer body size can be an important species-specific trait determining population dynamics and ecosystem processes, these observed shifts in consumer size distributions suggest a potentially important pathway for global increases in nutrient enrichment to alter stream structure and function.

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Relationships between Size Structure of Invertebrate Assemblages and Trophy and Substrate Composition in Streams

Cited by 81 publications

References 27 publications

Sensitivity of a benthic, metazoan, biomass size spectrum to differences in sediment granulometry

Sensitivity of a benthic, metazoan, biomass size spectrum to differences in sediment granulometry

Macroinvertebrates and Excessive Fine Sediment Conditions in Oregon Coastal Streams

Nutrient enrichment differentially affects body sizes of primary consumers and predators in a detritus‐based stream

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