Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-w6wnr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-26T03:59:20.889Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Primary consumers and resources: Annual variation in two contrasting reaches of a Patagonian mountain stream

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2010

Verónica Díaz Villanueva ,
Leonardo Buria  and
Ricardo Albariño
Verónica Díaz Villanueva*
Affiliation:
CONICET, INIBIOMA – Laboratory of Limnology, Universidad del Comahue Quintral 1250, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina
Leonardo Buria
Affiliation:
Dirección de Parques Nacionales, Argentina
Ricardo Albariño
Affiliation:
CONICET, INIBIOMA – Laboratory of Limnology, Universidad del Comahue Quintral 1250, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina
*
vdiazvilla@hotmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Resource availability influences the flow of energy through food webs, thus affecting biomass and trophic structure of consumer communities. To assess the effect of availability of allochthonous (leaf litter) and autochthonous (periphyton) resources on the trophic structure of macroinvertebrates, we sampled monthly for a year two sites (upstream forested, downstream open canopy) of Challhuaco, a low order mountain stream in the Patagonian Andes. Leaf litter and periphyton dynamics showed the expected pattern, peaking in autumn and spring, respectively. Temporal variations of shredders and scrapers were synchronized, with the logic delay, with resource abundance. Although leaf litter mass was similar at both stream reaches, shredders were more abundant at the forest site. Periphyton biomass was higher at the forest, while scrapers were more abundant at the open site. The patterns of resource and consumer abundance, and community functional structure were mostly explained by the interaction of abiotic factors and trophic relationships.

Keywords

Functional feeding groupsbenthic organic matterperiphytonstreamPatagonia
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , 2010 , pp. 21 - 28
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Albariño, R.J., 2001. Food habit and mouthpart morphology of a South Andes population of Klapopteryx kuscheli (Plecoptera: Austroperlidae). Aquat. Insects , 23, 171–181.
Albariño, R.J. and Balseiro, E.G., 2002. Leaf litter breakdown in Patagonian streams: native versus exotic trees and the effect of invertebrate size. Aquat. Conserv. , 12, 181–192. CrossRef
Albariño, R.J. and Díaz Villanueva, V., 2006. Feeding ecology of two plecopterans in low order Andean-Patagonian streams. Internat. Rev. Hydrobiol. , 91, 122–135. CrossRef
Albariño, R.J., Díaz Villanueva, V. and Canhoto, C., 2008. The effect of sunlight on leaf litter quality reduces growth of the shredder Klapopteryx kuscheli. Freshw. Biol. , 53, 1881–1889. CrossRef
APHA (American Public Health Association), 1989. Standard methods for the examination of water, sewage, and wastewater, American Public Health Association, Washington D.C.
Basaguren A., Elosegui A. and Pozo J., 1996. Changes in the trophic structure of benthic macroinvertebrate communities associated with food availability and stream flow variations. Int. Rev. Ges. Hydrobiol., 81, 1–12.
Begon M., Harper J.L. and Townsend C.R., 1996. Ecology: Individuals, Populations and Communities, Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 1068 p.
Benstead J.P. and Pringle C.M., 2004. Deforestation alters the resource base and biomass of endemic stream insects in eastern Madagascar. Freshw. Biol., 49, 490–501.
Benstead, J.P., Douglas, M.M. and Pringle, C.M., 2003. Relationship of stream invertebrate communities to deforestation in eastern Madagascar. Ecol. Appl. , 13, 1473–1490. CrossRef
Bernhardt E.S. and Likens G.E., 2004. Controls on periphyton biomass in heterotrophic streams. Freshw. Biol., 49, 14–27.
Biggs B.J. and Close M.E., 1989. Periphyton biomass dynamics in gravel bed rivers: the relative effects of flow and nutrients. Freshw. Biol., 22, 209–231.
Buria L., Albariño J.R., Díaz Villanueva V., Modenutti B. and Balseiro E., 2007. Impact of exotic rainbow trout on the benthic macroinvertebrate community from Andean-Patagonian headwater streams. Arch. Hydrobiol., 168, 145–154.
Collier K.J. and Halliday J.N., 2000. Macroinvertebrate-wood associations during decay of plantation pine in New Zealand pumice-bed stream: stable habitat or trophic subsidy? J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc., 19, 94–111.
Cummins, K.W., Wilzbach, M.A., Gates, D.M., Perry, J.B. and Taliaferro, W.B., 1989. Shredders and riparian vegetation. BioScience , 39, 24–30. CrossRef
Díaz Villanueva, V. and Albariño, R.J., 1999. Feeding habit of Notoperla archiplatae (Plecoptera) larvae in a North Patagonia Andean stream, Argentina. Hydrobiologia , 412, 43–52. CrossRef
Díaz Villanueva V., Albariño R. and Modenutti B., 2004. Grazing impact of two aquatic invertebrates on periphyton from an Andean-Patagonian stream. Arch. Hydrobiol., 159, 455–471.
Durant, J.M., Hjermann, D.Ø., Anker-Nilssen, T., Beaugrand, G., Mysterud, A., Pettorelli, N. and Stenseth, N.C., 2005. Timing and abundance as key mechanisms affecting trophic interactions in variable environments. Ecol. Lett. , 8, 952–958. CrossRef
Fisher S.G. and Likens G.E., 1973. Energy flow in Bear Brook, New Hampshire: An integrative approach to stream ecosystem metabolism. Ecol. Monogr., 43, 421–439.
Graham, A.A., McCaughan, D.J. and McKee, F.S., 1988. Measurement of surface area of stones. Hydrobiologia , 157, 85–87. CrossRef
Hildebrand-Vogel, R., Godoy, R. and Vogel, A., 1990. Subantarctic-Andean Nothofagus pumilio forests. Distribution area and systematic overview, vegetation and soils as demonstrated by an example of a South Chilean stand. Vegetation , 89, 55–68. CrossRef
Hill W.R. and Dimick S.M., 2002. Effects of riparian leaf dynamics on periphyton photosynthesis and light utilisation efficiency. Freshw. Biol., 47, 1245–1256.
Hillebrand, H., 2005. Light regime and consumer control of autotrophic biomass. J. Ecology , 93, 758–69. CrossRef
Lamberti G.A., 1996. The role of periphyton in benthic food webs. In: Stevenson R.J., Bothwell M.L. and Lowe R.L. (eds.), Algal Ecology: Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems, Academic Press, San Diego, 533–573.
Larrañaga, S., Díez, J.R., Elosegui, A. and Pozo, J., 2003. Leaf retention in streams of the Agüera basin (northern Spain). Aquat. Sci. , 65, 158–166. CrossRef
McIntire C.D., Gregory S.V., Steinman A.D. and Lamberti G.A., 1996. Modeling benthic algal communities: an example from stream ecology. In: Stevenson R.J., Bothwell M.L. and Lowe R.L. (eds.), Algal Ecology: Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems, Academic Press, San Diego, 670–704.
Merritt R.W. and Cummins K.W., 1996. An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, 862 p.
Minshall G.W., 2003. Responses of stream benthic macroinvertebrates to fire. Forest Ecol. Manage., 178, 155–161.
Miserendino M.L., 2007. Macroinvertebrate functional organization and water quality in a large arid river from Patagonia (Argentina). Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim., 43, 133–145.
Modenutti B.E., Balseiro E.G., Queimaliños C.P., Añón Suárez D.A., Diéguez M.C. and Albariño R.J., 1998. Structure and dynamics of food web in Andean lakes. Lakes Reserv.: Res. Manage., 3, 179–186.
Nusch E.A., 1980. Comparison of different methods for chlorophyll and phaeopigment determination. Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih. Ergebn. Limnol., 14, 14–36.
Power M.E., 1992. Top-down and bottom-up forces in food webs: do plants have primacy? Ecology, 73, 733–746.
Quinn G. and Keough M., 2002. Experimental design and data analysis for biologist, Cambridge University Press, 537 p.
Roberts S., Sabater S. and Beardall J., 2004. Benthic microalgal colonization in streams of differing riparian cover and light availability. J. Phycol., 40, 1004–1012.
Rosemond, A., Pringle, C., Ramirez, A. and Paul, M., 2001. A test of top-down and bottom-up control in a detritus-based food web. Ecology , 82, 2279–2293. CrossRef
Rosi-Marshall E.J. and Wallace J.B., 2002. Invertebrate food webs along a stream resource gradient. Freshw. Biol., 47, 129–141.
Steinman A.D., 1996. Effects of grazers on freshwater benthic algae. In: Stevenson R.J., Bothwell M.L. and Lowe R.L. (eds.), Algal Ecology: Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems, Academic Press, San Diego, 341–374.
Stevenson R.J., 1996. The stimulation and drag of current. In: Stevenson R.J., Bothwell M.L. and Lowe R.L. (eds.), Algal Ecology: Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems, Academic Press, San Diego, 321–340.
Stout, B., Benfield, E.F. and Webster, J.R., 1993. Effects of a forest disturbance on shredder production in southern Appalachian headwater streams. Freshw. Biol. , 29, 59–69. CrossRef
Thompson, R.M. and Townsend, C.R., 1999. The effect of seasonal variation on the community structure and food-web attributes of two streams: implications for food-web science. Oikos , 87, 75–88. CrossRef
Townsend C.R., Arbuckle C.J., Crowl T.A. and Scarsbrook M.R., 1997. The relationship between land use and physicochemistry, food resources and macroinvertebrate communities in tributaries of the Taieri River, New Zealand: A hierarchically scaled approach. Freshw. Biol., 37, 177–191.
Vannote R.L., Minshall G.W., Cummins K.W., Sedell J.R. and Cushing C.E., 1980. The River Continuum Concept. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 37, 130–137.
Velázquez S.M. and Miserendino M.L., 2003. Habitat type and macroinvertebrate assemblages in low order Patagonian streams. Arch. Hydrobiol., 158, 461–83.
Wallace J.B., Eggert S.L., Meyer J.L. and Webster J.R., 1999. Effects of resource limitation on a detrital-based ecosystem. Ecol. Monogr., 69, 409–442.
Webster J.R., Meyer J.L., Wallace J.B. and Benfield E., 1997. Organic matter dynamics in Hugh White Creek, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina, USA. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc., 16, 74–78.
Webster J.R., Benfield E.F., Ehrman T.P., Schaeffer M.A., Tank J.L., Hutchens J.J. and D'Angelo D.J., 1999. What happens to allochthonous material that falls into streams? A synthesis of new and published information from Coweeta. Freshw. Biol., 41, 687–705.
Wellnitz T.A., Rader R.B. and Ward J.V., 1996. Importance of light and nutrients in structuring an algal community in a Rocky Mountain stream. J. Freshwater Ecol., 11, 399–413.
Williams D.D. and Felmate B.W., 1994. Aquatic Insects, Cab International, Oxon, 358 p.