Summary
Insecticide treatment of a small, Appalachian forest stream caused massive downstream insect drift and reduced aquatic insect densities to <10% of an adjacent untreated reference stream. Reduction in breakdown rates of leaf detritus was accompanied by differences in quantity and composition of benthic organic matter between the two streams. Following treatment, transport of particulate organic matter was significantly lower in the treated stream than in the reference stream whereas no significant differences existed prior to treatment. Our results indicate that macroinvertebrate consumers, primarily insects, are important in regulating rates of detritus processing and availability to downstream communities.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anderson NH, Sedell JR (1979) Detritus processing by macroinvertebrates in stream ecosystems. Ann Rev Entomol 24:351–377
Chew RM (1974) Consumers as regulators of ecosystems: an alternative to energetics. Ohio J Sci 74:359–370
Cummins KW (1973) Trophic relations of aquatic insects. Ann Rev Entomol 18:183–206
Fisher SG, Likes GW (1973) Energy flow in Bear Brook, New Hampshire: an intergrative approach to stream ecosystem metabolism. Ecol Monogr 43:421–439
Flannagan JF, Townsend BE, DeMarch BGE, Friesen MK, Leonhard SL (1979) The effects of an experimental injection of methoxychlor on aquatic invertebrates: accumulation, standing crop, and drift. Can Ent 111:73–89
Golladay SW (1981) The relationship between microbial conditioning of leaf litter and food utilization by an aquatic detritivore. M.S. Thesis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ. Blacksburg, Va. USA, 56 pp
Grafius E, Anderson NH (1980) Population dynamics and role of two species of Lepidostoma (Trichoptera: Lepidostomatidae) in an Oregon coniferous forest stream. Ecology 61:808–816
Gurtz ME, Webster JR, Wallace JB (1980) Seston dynamics in southern Applachian streams: effects of clear-cutting. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:624–631
Leopold LB, Wolman MG, Miller JP (1964) Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology WH Freeman San Francisco
Naiman RJ, Sedell JR (1979) Characterization of particulate organic matter transported by some Cascade Mountain streams. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 36:17–31
O'Neill RV (1976) Ecosystem persistence and heterotrophic regulation. Ecology 57:1244–1253
Petersen RC, Cummins KW (1974) Leaf processing in a woodland stream. Freshwat Biol 4:343–363
Shipton WA, Brown JF (1962) A whole-leaf clearing and staining technique to demonstrate host-pathogen relationships of wheat stem rust. Phytopathology 52:1313
Short RA, Canton SP, Ward JV (1980) Detrital processing and associated macroinvertebrates in a Colorado mountain stream. Ecology 61:727–732
Short RA, Maslin PE (1977) Processing of leaf litter by a stream detritivore: effect on nutrient availability to collectors. Ecology 58:935–938
Swank WT, Douglass JE (1975) Nutrient flux in undisturbed and manipulated forest ecosystems in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Assoc Internat Sci Hydrol 117:445–456
Vannote RL, Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Cushing CE (1980) The river continuum concept. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:130–137
Wallace JB, Merritt RW (1980) Filter-feeding ecology of aquatic insects. Ann Rev Entomol 25:103–132
Wallace RR, Hynes HBN (1975) The catastrophic drift of stream insects after treatments with methoxychlor (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-methoxyphenyl)ethane). Environ Pollut 8:255–268
Webster JR, Benfield EF, Cairns J (1979) Model predictions of the effects of stream regulation in particulate organic matter transport. In: Ward JV, Stanford JA (eds) Ecology of Regulated Streams. Plenum Press New York, p 339–364
Webster JR, Patten BC (1979) Effects of watershed perturbation on stream potassium and calcium budgets. Ecol Monogr 49:51–72
Zar JH (1974) Biostatistical Analysis. Prentice-Hall New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wallace, J.B., Webster, J.R. & Cuffney, T.F. Stream detritus dynamics: Regulation by invertebrate consumers. Oecologia 53, 197–200 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00545663
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00545663