Roles of Bryophytes in Stream Ecosystems

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Abstract. Aquatic bryophytes are a common but often overlooked component of a wide variety of stream ecosystems. Although stream environments present a number of challenges for bryophyte reproduction and survival, some bryophytes have characteristics that allow them to persist in a wide variety of stream types (e.g., adaptations to low light and temperature, rapid nutrient uptake, resistance to scouring and spates). Primary production by aquatic bryophytes can equal or exceed that by epilithic and periphytic algae, which have been much more widely studied. Also, it is clear that bryophytes can profoundly influence both the abundance and community structure of stream invertebrates. However, a number of fundamentally important roles of bryophytes in stream ecosystems remain unexamined. Very little is known, for example, about the dynamics of nutrient uptake by bryophytes. The dynamics of nutrient regeneration from decomposing bryophyte tissues are essentially unknown. Nor is it known whether bryophytes increase or decrease the habitat quality for stream trophic levels other than stream invertebrates. For example, ecological interactions between bryophytes and epiphytic microorganisms are potentially important but unknown. Similarly, it is not clear whether fish benefit from the increased abundance of insects often observed when bryophytes are present in streams. The purpose of this review is to summarize the existing literature on the functions of bryophytes as important ecosystem components, rather than as simple environmental indicators. We hope that this information will foster a greater appreciation for the potential functions of these organisms, and will stimulate additional research that will improve our knowledge of wholestream ecosystem dynamics.Bryophytes may profoundly alter the structure and function of stream ecosystems. They can substantially alter the abundance and community structure of stream fauna, and they have the potential to compete effectively for resources such as space, nutrients, and light. However, their impacts on fundamental ecosystem processes such as production, decomposition, and nutrient regeneration are poorly known. Despite the potential importance of these impacts, research on bryophytes as functional components of stream ecosystems is sparse. A literature search of the last 10 y of Biological Abstracts showed that <1% of the world literature on aquatic ecology addresses bryophyte ecology (W. B. Bowden and D. B. Arscott, unpublished data). Furthermore, <5-10% of the literature published on aquatic bryophytes in the last 10 y deals with ecosystem-level processes. A number of fundamental questions about bryophytes as functional components of stream ec...

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