Abstract
Beaver (Castor canadensis) influence stream ecosystems through their wood cutting and dam building activities. To quantify this influence we have used measured rates of nitrogen dynamics to construct a nitrogen budget for a section of a second order stream in eastern Québec and a beaver dam in that stream. The budget demonstrates the importance of sediment accumulations and an expanded wetted area to the annual nitrogen economy and to pathways of nitrogen cycling. Major changes after impoundment (per unit area) include a reduction in allochthonous nitrogen and an increase in nitrogen fixation by sediment microbes. Overall, the beaver-modified section accumulated ∼103 times more nitrogen than before alteration. The ecosystem implications of beaver activity suggest that current concepts of patterns and processes in running waters require modification.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Allen SE, Max Grimshaw AN, Parkinson JA, Quarmby C (1974) Chemical analysis of ecological material. John Wiley and Sons, New York
Chatarpaul L, Robinson JB, Kaushik NK (1980) Effects of tubificid worms on denitrification and nitrification in stream sediment. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:656–663
Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199:1302–1310
Conners ME, Naiman RJ (1984) Allochthonous inputs to the Matamek River watershed, Québec: The influence of stream size. Can J Fish Aquat Sci (submitted)
Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Swanson FJ, Minshall GW, Fisher SG, Cushing CE, Peteresen RC, Vannote RL (1983) Problems in evaluating organic matter budgets for stream ecosystems. In: Barnes JR, Minshall GW (eds) The Testing of General Ecological Theories in Stream Ecosystems. Plenum Press, NY, pp 299–353
D'Elia CF, Steudler PA, Corwin N (1977) Determination of total nitrogen in aqueous samples using persulfate digestion. Limnol Oceanogr 22:760–764
Elwood JW, Newbold JD, O'Neill RV, Van Winkle W (1983) Resource spiraling: an operational paradigm for analyzing lotic ecosystems. In: Fontaine TD III, Bartell SM (eds) Dynamics of Lotic Ecosystems. Ann Arbor Science, Michigan, pp 3–27
Francis MM, Naiman RJ, Melillo JM (1984), Nitrogen fixation in beaver (Castor canadensis) influenced subarctic streams. Hydrobiologia (submitted)
Hardy RWF, Burns RC, Holsten RD (1973) Applications of the acetylene-ethylene assay for measurement of nitrogen fixation. Soil Biol Biochem 5:47–81
Hodgdon HE, Larson JS (1980) A bibliography of the recent literature on beaver. Mass Agric Exp Sta, Res Bull No. 665, p 128
Howard RJ (1982) Beaver habitat classification in Massachusetts. M.S. Thesis. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. p 67
Ives RL (1942) The beaver-meadow complex. J Geomorph 5:191–203
Jenkins SH, Busher PE (1979) Castor canadensis, In: Mammalian Species. American Society of Mammologists, No. 120. pp 1–8
Melillo JM, Naiman RJ, Aber JD, Eshleman KN (1983) The influence of substrate quality and stream size on wood decomposition dynamics. Oecologia (Berlin) 58:281–285
Melillo JM, Naiman RJ, Aber JD, Linkins AE (1984) Dynamics of plant litter decay in northern streams. Bull Mar Sci (in press)
Meyer JL, Tate CM (1983) The effect of watershed disturbance on dissolved organic carbon dynamics of a stream. Ecology 64:33–44
Meyer JL, Likens GE, Sloane J (1981) Phosphorus, nitrogen, and organic carbon flux in a headwater stream. Arch Hydrobiol 91:28–44
Morgan LH (1968) The American Beaver and His Works. JB Lippincott, Philadelphia, p 330
Naiman RJ (1982) Characteristics of sediment and organic carbon export from pristine boreal forest watersheds. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 39:1699–1718
Naiman RJ (1983a) The annual pattern and spatial distribution of aquatic oxygen metabolism in boreal forest waterscheds. Ecol Monogr 53:73–94
Naiman RJ (1983b) A geomorphic approach for examining the role of periphyton in large watersheds. In: Wetzel RG (ed) Periphyton of Freshwater Ecosystems. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague, pp 191–198
Naiman RJ (1983c) The influence of stream size on the food quality of seston. Can J Zool 61:1195–2010
Naiman RJ, Farr BS, Francis MM, Melillo JM, Hobbie JE (1982) The role of beaver in shapping aquatic ecosystem dynamics. In: Naiman RJ (ed) The Matamek Research Program: Annual Report for 1981. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Tech Rept 81-29, pp 90–117
Naiman RJ, McDowell DM, Farr BS (1984) The influence on the production dynamics of aquatic insects. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 22 (in press)
Neff DJ (1957) Ecological effects of beaver habitat abandonment in the Colorado Rockies. J Wildlife Mgt 21:80–84
Paine RT (1966) Food web complexity and species diversity. Am Nat 100:65–75
Sain P, Robinson JB, Stammers WN, Kaushik NK, Whitely HR (1977) A laboratory study on the role of stream sediment in nitrogen loss from water. J Environ Qual 6:274–278
Sedell JR, Froggett JL (1984) Importance of streamside forests to large rivers: The isolation of the Williamette River, Oregon, USA. from its floodplain. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 22 (in press)
Seton ET (1929) Lives of Game Animals, Vol 4, pt 2. Rodents, etc. Doubleday, Doran and Co, Garden City, NY
Smith CJ, DeLaune RD (1983) Nitrogen loss from freshwater and saline estuarine sediments. J Environ Qual 12:514–518
Solorzono L (1969) Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolypochlorite method. Limnol Oceanogr 14:799–801
Triska FJ, Sedell JR, Cromack K, Gregory SV, McCorison FM (1984) Nitrogen budget for a small coniferous forest stream. Ecol Monogr 54:119–140
Vannote RL, Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Cushing CE (1980) The river continuum concept. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:130–137
Ward JV, Stanford JA (1983) The intermediate disturbance hypothesis: an explaination for biotic diversity patterns in lotic ecosystems In: Fontaine TD III and Bartell SM (eds) Dynamics of Lotic Ecosystems. Ann Arbor Science, Michigan, pp 347–356
Wood EP, Armstrong FAJ, Richards FH (1967) Determination of nitrate in sea water by cadmium-copper reduction to nitrite. J Mar Biol Assn UK 47:23–31
Yeager LE, Hay KG (1955) A contribution toward a bibliography on the beaver. Tech Bull State of Colorado Dept Fish and Game 1:1–103
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Research support by NSF grant DEB 81-05677 and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. this is Contribution No. 5565 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and No. 88 from the Institution's Matamek Research Station
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Naiman, R.J., Melillo, J.M. Nitrogen budget of a subarctic stream altered by beaver (Castor canadensis). Oecologia 62, 150–155 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379007
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379007