Some larval Leptoceridae (Trichoptera) from south-eastern Australia

Clair, Rosalind M. St

doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.46.1994.13

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…However, T. australis did have a potentially high contribution from macrophytes to their diet in all poor-condition reaches, as previously observed for reaches with low riparian detritus inputs (Deegan and Ganf 2008). High assimilation of grasses in some reaches appeared to reflect a flexible diet that depends on whichever form of coarse detrital material is most abundant at a reach (St Clair 1994). Greater assimilation of exotic grasses compared with native macrophytes may be a result of grass stems providing more suitable case materials, with both sources having a similar nutritional value, as indicated by C:N ratios.…”

Section: Macroinvertebratesmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Many Australian stream invertebrates are generalists (Chessman 1986;St Clair 1994), and opportunistic foraging may increase resilience in seasonally-flowing streams where availability of resources fluctuates (Leigh et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The assimilation of grass by several invertebrates was surprising, given that aquatic invertebrates are usually thought to avoid C-4 plants (Clapcott and Bunn 2003;Jardine et al 2013). Lower contributions for tree detritus may reflect its relative scarcity (Vannote et al 1980;Reid et al 2008a) and indicate opportunistic feeding by consumers (St Clair 1994;Blanchette et al 2014). …”

Section: Macroinvertebratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, although macrophytes and their epiphytes were important, consumers were not dependent on them, and also assimilated other basal resources (epilithon, charophytes, tree detritus), indicating the potential for flexible, generalist feeding depending on resource availability (St Clair 1994, Leigh et al 2010, Blanchette et al 2014). …”

Section: Macroinvertebratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this situation, the presence of macrophytes may provide an important alternative food source in streams, sustain in-stream productivity and consequently, faunal biodiversity. Food resources used by stream fauna can reflect availability (Vannote et al 1980;St Clair 1994) and where aquatic fauna have flexible diets (e.g. Johnston et al 2011), loss of riparian resources may increase the relative importance of macrophytes (Deegan and Ganf 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Potential of submerged macrophytes to support food webs in lowland agricultural streams

Paice

Chambers

Robson

2017

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Submerged plants are often abundant in lowland streams in agricultural landscapes, but little is known of their role in stream ecosystems compared to riparian vegetation.We investigated the relative importance of submerged macrophytes as a basal resource of food webs in stream reaches with good and poor riparian vegetation condition, using mixing model analysis with stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes.Epilithic periphyton and terrestrial detritus were important basal resources in good condition reaches, although where macrophytes were present, they did contribute to food webs. Higher assimilation of either the macrophyte Cycnogeton huegelii or conspicuous epiphytes on C. huegelii leaves was associated with poor riparian condition. Where Potamogeton ochreatus and Ottelia ovalifolia occurred in poor condition reaches, these macrophytes contributed moderately to the food web, but were probably of greater importance as substrates for epiphytic algae. Mixing models indicated invertebrates commonly had generalist feeding strategies, feeding on the most available resource at each reach. Thus where riparian vegetation is limited, submerged macrophytes may support opportunistic consumers both directly and as a substrate for epiphytes, thereby partially compensating for the loss of allochthonous resources in lowland agricultural streams.

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Section: Macroinvertebratesmentioning

confidence: 55%