Abstract
We tested direct and indirect measures of benthic metabolism as indicators of stream ecosystem health across a known agricultural land-use disturbance gradient in southeast Queensland, Australia. Gross primary production (GPP) and respiration (R24) in benthic chambers in cobble and sediment habitats, algal biomass (as chlorophyll a) from cobbles and sediment cores, algal biomass accrual on artificial substrates and stable carbon isotope ratios of aquatic plants and benthic sediments were measured at 53 stream sites, ranging from undisturbed subtropical rainforest to catchments where improved pasture and intensive cropping are major land-uses. Rates of benthic GPP and R24 varied by more than two orders of magnitude across the study gradient. Generalised linear regression modelling explained 80% or more of the variation in these two indicators when sediment and cobble substrate dominated sites were considered separately, and both catchment and reach scale descriptors of the disturbance gradient were important in explaining this variation. Model fits were poor for net daily benthic metabolism (NDM) and production to respiration ratio (P/R). Algal biomass accrual on artificial substrate and stable carbon isotope ratios of aquatic plants and benthic sediment were the best of the indirect indicators, with regression model R2 values of 50% or greater. Model fits were poor for algal biomass on natural substrates for cobble sites and all sites. None of these indirect measures of benthic metabolism was a good surrogate for measured GPP. Direct measures of benthic metabolism, GPP and R24, and several indirect measures were good indicators of stream ecosystem health and are recommended in assessing process-related responses to riparian and catchment land use change and the success of ecosystem rehabilitation actions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abal E., Loneragan N., Bowen P., Perry C. J., Udy J. W. and D. W.C. (1994). Physiological and morphological responses of the seagrass Zostera capricorni Aschers. to light intensity. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 178: 113–129
Abal, E. G., S. E. Bunn & W. C. Dennison (eds), 2005. Healthy Waterways, Healthy Catchments: Making the connection in south east Queensland. Moreton Bay and Catchments Partnership, Brisbane, Queensland, 222 pp
Addison R. F. and Clarke K. R. (1990). The IOC/GEEP Bermuda workshop. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 138: 1–8
Anderson J. R. (1993). State of the Rivers Project. Report 1. Development and Validation of the Methodology. Report to the Department of Primary Industries, Queensland
Bayne B. L., Addison R. F., Capuzzo J. M., Clarke K. R., Gray J. S., Moore M. N. and Warwick R. M. (1988). An overview of the GEEP workshop. Marine Ecology Progress Series 46: 235–243
Bender M., Grande K., Johnson K., Marra J., William P. J. L., Sieburth J., Pilson M., Langdon C., Hitchcock G., Orchardo J., Hunt C., Donaghay P. and Heinemann K. (1987). A comparison of four methods for determining planktonic community production. Limnology and Oceanography 32: 1085–1098
Bott T. L., Brock J. T., Cushing C. E., Gregory S. V., King D. and Petersen R. C. (1978). A comparison of methods for measuring primary productivity and community respiration in streams. Hydrobiologia 60: 3–12
Bott T. L., Brock J. T., Dunn C. S., Naiman R. J., Ovink R. W. and Petersen R. C. (1985). Benthic Community Metabolism in 4 Temperate Stream Systems: an Inter-Biome Comparison and Evaluation of the River Continuum Concept. Hydrobiologia 123: 3–45
Bunn S. E. (1995). Biological monitoring of water quality in Australia: Workshop summary and future directions. Australian Journal of Ecology 20: 220–227
Bunn S. E. and Davies P. M. (2000). Biological processes in running waters and their implications for the assessment of ecological integrity. Hydrobiologia 422: 61–70
Bunn S. E., Davies P. M. and Mosisch T. D. (1999). Ecosystem measures of river health and their response to riparian and catchment degradation. Freshwater Biology 41: 333–345
Catterall C. P. and Kingston M. (1993). Remnant Bushland of South East Queensland in the 1990’s: its Distribution, Loss, Ecological Consequences and Future Prospects. Institute of Applied Environmental Research, Griffith University and Brisbane City Council, Brisbane
Craft J. A., Stanford J. A. and Pusch M. (2002). Microbial respiration within a floodplain aquifer of a large gravel-bed river. Freshwater Biology 47: 251–261
Crossey M. J. and La Point T. W. (1988). A comparison of periphyton community structural and functional responses to heavy metals. Hydrobiologia 162: 109–116
Davies, P. M., 1994. Ecosystem ecology of upland streams of the northern jarrah forest, Western Australia. Ph.D. thesis. The University of Western Australia
Dodds W. K., Hutson R. E., Eichem A. C., Evans M. A., Gudder D. A., Fritz K. M. and Gray L. (1996). The relationship of floods, drying, flow and light to primary production and producer biomass in a prairie stream. Hydrobiologia 333: 151–159
Enríquez S., Duarte C. M., Sand-Jensen K. and Nielsen S. L. (1996). Broad-scale comparison of photosynthetic rates across phototrophic organisms. Oecologia 108: 197–206
Farquhar G. D., Ehleringer J. R. and Hubick K. T. (1989). Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 40: 503–537
Finlay J. C. (2001). Stable-carbon-isotope ratios of river biota: Implications for energy flow in lotic food webs. Ecology 82: 1052–1064
France R. L. (1995). Carbon−13 enrichment in benthic compared to planktonic algae: Foodweb implications. Marine Ecology Progress Series 124: 307–312
France R. L. and Holmquist J. G. (1997). Delta super(13) variability of macroalgae: Effects of water motion via baffling by seagrasses and mangroves. Marine Ecology Progress Series 149: 305–308
Harris J. H. (1995). The use of fish in ecological assessments. Australian Journal of Ecology 20: 65–80
Hill B. H., Hall R. K., Husby P., Herlihy A. T. and Dunne M. (2000). Interregional comparisons of sediment microbial respiration in streams. Freshwater Biology 44: 213–222
Hill B. H., Lazorchak J. M., McCormick F. H. and Willingham W. T. (1997). The effects of elevated metals on benthic community metabolism in a Rocky Mountain stream. Environmental Pollution 95: 183–190
Keithan E. D. and Lowe R. L. (1985). Primary productivity and spatial structure of phytolithic growth in streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee (USA). Hydrobiologia 123: 59–68
Kennard, M. J., B. J. Pusey, A. H. Arthington, B. D. Harch & S. J. Mackay, 2006. Development and application of a predictive model of freshwater fish assemblage composition to evaluate river health in eastern Australia. Hydrobiologia DOI 10.1007/s10750-005-0993-8
Kevern N. R. and Ball R. C. (1965). Primary productivity and energy relationships in artificial streams. Limnology and Oceanography 10: 74–87
Krause-Jensen D. and Sand-Jensen K. (1998). Light attenuation and photosynthesis of aquatic plant communities. Limnology and Oceanography 43: 396–407
Lambert, W., 1984. The measurement of respiration. In Downing J. A. & F. H. Rigler (eds), A Manual on Methods for the Assessment of Secondary Productivity in Fresh Waters. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford: 413–468
MacLeod N. A. and Barton D. R. (1998). Effects of light intensity, water velocity and species composition on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in periphyton. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55: 1919–1925
Marchant R., Mitchell P. and Norris R. (1984). Distribution of benthic invertebrates along a disturbed section of the LaTrobe River, Victoria: an analysis based on numerical classification. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 35: 355–374
McCreadie J. W. and Colbo M. H. (1991). A critical examination of four methods of estimating the surface area of stone substrate from streams in relation to sampling Simuliidae (Diptera). Hydrobiologia 220: 205–210
McIntire C. D., Garrison R. L., Phinney H. K. and Warren C. E. (1964). Primary production in laboratory streams. Limnology and Oceanography 9: 92–102
Morin A., Lamoureux W. and Busnarda J. (1999). Empirical models predicting primary productivity from chlorophyll a and water temperature for stream periphyton and lake and ocean phytoplankton. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 18: 299–307
Mosisch T. D., Bunn S. E. and Davies P. M. (2001). The relative importance of shading and nutrients on algal production in subtropical streams. Freshwater Biology 46: 1269–1278
Mulholland P. J., Fellows C. S., Tank J. L., Grimm N. B., Webster J. R., Hamilton S. K., Marti E., Ashkenas L., Bowden W. B., Dodds W. K., McDowell W. H., Paul M. J. and Peterson B. J. (2001). Inter-biome comparison of factors controlling stream metabolism. Freshwater Biology 46: 1503–1517
Naiman R. J. (1983). The Annual Pattern and Spatial-Distribution of Aquatic Oxygen-Metabolism in Boreal Forest Watersheds. Ecological Monographs 53: 73–94
O’Leary M. H., Madhavan S. and Paneth P. (1992). Physical and chemical basis of carbon isotope fractionation in plants. Plant, Cell and Environment 15: 1099–1104
Parsons T. R., Maita Y. L. and Lalli C. M. (1984). A Manual of Chemical and Biological Methods for Seawater Analysis. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 101–107
Peterson B. J. and Fry B. (1987). Stable Isotopes in Ecosystem Studies. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18: 293–320
Pfeifer R. F. and McDiffet W. F. (1975). Some factors affecting primary productivity of stream riffle communities. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 75: 306–317
Rapport D. J., Costanza R. and McMichael A. J. (1998). Assessing ecosystem health. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 13: 397–402
Reid M. A., Tibby J. C., Penny D. and Gell P. A. (1995). The use of diatoms to assess past and present water quality. Australian Journal of Ecology 20: 57–64
Rosemond A. D., Mulholland P. J. and Elwood J. W. (1993). Top-Down and Bottom-Up Control of Stream Periphyton: Effects of Nutrients and Herbivores. Ecology 74: 1264–1280
Rosgen D. L. (1994). A Classification of Natural Rivers. Catena 22: 169–199
Smith, M. J. & A. W. Storey (eds), 2001. Design and Implementation of Baseline Monitoring (DIBM3): Developing an Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program for Rivers and Streams in Southeast Queensland. Report to the South-East Queensland Regional Water Quality Management Strategy. Brisbane
Stebbing A. R. D. and Dethlefsen V. (1992). Introduction to the Bremerhaven workshop on biological effects of contaminants. Marine Ecology Progress Series 91: 1–8
Steinman A. D. and Lamberti G. A. (1996). Biomass and pigments of benthic algae. In: Hauer, F. R. and Lamberti, G. A. (eds) Methods in Stream Ecology, pp 295–315. Academic Press, San Diego
Ter Steege, H., 1994. HEMIPHOT: A programme to analyze vegetation indices, light and light quality from hemispherical photographs. Tropenbos Documents 3: Tropenbos Foundation. Wageningen. 44 pp
Udy, J. W., M. Bartkow, S. E. Bunn, J. E. Clapcott, C. S. Fellows & B. D. Harch, 2006. Measures of nutrient processes as indicators of stream ecosystem health. Hydrobiologia DOI 10.1007/s10750-005-1006-7
Whitton B. A. and Kelly M. G. (1995). Use of algae and other plants for monitoring rivers. Australian Journal of Ecology 20: 45–56
Wright J. F. (1995). Development and use of a system for predicting the macroinvertebrate fauna in flowing waters. Australian Journal of Ecology 20: 181–197
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fellows, C.S., Clapcott, J.E., Udy, J.W. et al. Benthic Metabolism as an Indicator of Stream Ecosystem Health. Hydrobiologia 572, 71–87 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-9001-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-9001-6