Flow permanence affects aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity and community structure in three headwater streams in a forested catchment

Drying can be a common disturbance affecting macroinvertebrate communities in headwater streams. Whether intermittent and ephemeral streams have a lower diversity and (or) unique assemblage structure relative to physically similar and nearby perennial streams is still debated. We investigated changes in the diversity and assemblage composition of aquatic macroinvertebrates occupying debris dams in three headwater streams with a gradient of flow permanence (perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral) during a dry period in the austral summer of 2007 and a wet period in the spring of 2008. In the dry period, mean taxon richness and abundance in debris dams were lower in the intermittent and ephemeral streams than in the perennial stream, and the length of time without connected surface flow appeared to produce different patterns in community composition. However, during the wet period, mean taxon richness, abundance, and community composition of macroinvertebrates were very similar among the three streams. Hier...

[1]  H. McGowan,et al.  Reconstructing annual inflows to the headwater catchments of the Murray River, Australia, using the Pacific Decadal Oscillation , 2009 .

[2]  L. Metzeling,et al.  Can macroinvertebrate rapid bioassessment methods be used to assess river health during drought in south eastern Australian streams , 2008 .

[3]  I. Smith,et al.  Southern Hemisphere Synoptic Behavior in Extreme Phases of SAM, ENSO, Sea Ice Extent, and Southern Australia Rainfall , 2008 .

[4]  J. Heino,et al.  Weak relationships between landscape characteristics and multiple facets of stream macroinvertebrate biodiversity in a boreal drainage basin , 2008, Landscape Ecology.

[5]  V. Resh,et al.  Short‐term climatic trends affect the temporal variability of macroinvertebrates in California ‘Mediterranean’ streams , 2007 .

[6]  Jason Beringer,et al.  Carbon cycling in a mountain ash forest: Analysis of below ground respiration , 2007 .

[7]  L. Jost.  Partitioning diversity into independent alpha and beta components. , 2007, Ecology.

[8]  Leon A. Barmuta,et al.  Upstream heterogeneous zones: small stream systems structured by a lack of competence? , 2007, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[9]  N. Prat,et al.  Macroinvertebrate community structure and biological traits related to flow permanence in a Mediterranean river network , 2007, Hydrobiologia.

[10]  Isabelle Durance,et al.  Climate change effects on upland stream macroinvertebrates over a 25‐year period , 2007 .

[11]  J. Richardson,et al.  A Synthesis of the Ecology of Headwater Streams and their Riparian Zones in Temperate Forests , 2007, Forest Science.

[12]  R. Naiman,et al.  Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges , 2006, Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

[13]  V. Resh,et al.  Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and macrohabitat connectivity in Mediterranean-climate streams of northern California , 2006, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[14]  K. Cummins,et al.  The inadequacy of the fish-bearing criterion for stream management , 2005, Aquatic Sciences.

[15]  D. Lytle,et al.  Adaptation to natural flow regimes. , 2004, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[16]  K. Price,et al.  Communities of aquatic insects of old-growth and clearcut coastal headwater streams of varying flow persistence , 2003 .

[17]  T. McMahon,et al.  Droughts and anti‐droughts: the low flow hydrology of Australian rivers , 2003 .

[18]  P. S. Lake.  Ecological effects of perturbation by drought in flowing waters , 2003 .

[19]  Darren S. Baldwin,et al.  Drought and aquatic ecosystems: an introduction , 2003 .

[20]  Andrew J. Boulton,et al.  Parallels and contrasts in the effects of drought on stream macroinvertebrate assemblages , 2003 .

[21]  R. Sidle,et al.  Understanding Processes and Downstream Linkages of Headwater Systems , 2002 .

[22]  D. H. Ashton.  The Big Ash forest, Wallaby Creek, Victoria— changes during one lifetime , 2000 .

[23]  Martin Dieterich,et al.  The invertebrate fauna of summer-dry streams in western Oregon , 2000 .

[24]  J. Díez,et al.  Inputs of Particulate Organic Matter to Streams with Different Riparian Vegetation , 1997, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[25]  D. Williams.  Environmental Constraints in Temporary Fresh Waters and Their Consequences for the Insect Fauna , 1996, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[26]  J. Feminella,et al.  Comparison of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Small Streams along a Gradient of Flow Permanence , 1996, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[27]  C. Zamora‐Muñoz,et al.  Survival of caddis larvae in relation to their case material in a group of temporary and permanent pools , 1996 .

[28]  P. S. Lake,et al.  The ecology of two intermittent streams in Victoria, Australia. II. Comparisons of faunal composition between habitats, rivers and years , 1992 .

[29]  N. LeRoy Poff,et al.  Implications of Streamflow Variability and Predictability for Lotic Community Structure: A Regional Analysis of Streamflow Patterns , 1989 .

[30]  L. A. Smock,et al.  Role of debris dams in the structure and functioning of low-gradient headwater streams , 1989 .

[31]  G. Likens,et al.  IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIC DEBRIS DAMS IN THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF STREAM ECOSYSTEMS , 1980 .

[32]  J. Sabo,et al.  River drying lowers the diversity and alters the composition of an assemblage of desert riparian arthropods , 2012 .

[33]  A. Weeks,et al.  Is body size variation in the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) associated with environmental variables , 2011 .

[34]  K. Hennessy,et al.  Trends in rainfall indices for six Australian regions: 1910-2005 , 2007 .

[35]  V. Resh,et al.  Long-term seasonal variation in the biological traits of benthic-macroinvertebrates in two Mediterranean-climate streams in California, U.S.A. , 2006 .

[36]  Klement Tockner,et al.  Biodiversity of floodplain river ecosystems: ecotones and connectivity1 , 1999 .

[37]  C. Hawkins,et al.  Biodiversity of stream insects: variation at local, basin, and regional scales. , 1998, Annual review of entomology.

[38]  Xiao-Li Meng,et al.  POSTERIOR PREDICTIVE ASSESSMENT OF MODEL FITNESS VIA REALIZED DISCREPANCIES , 1996 .

[39]  Mutsunori Tokeshi,et al.  NICHE APPORTIONMENT OR RANDOM ASSORTMENT: SPECIES ABUNDANCE PATTERNS REVISITED , 1990 .

[40]  L. Pinder.  Biology of Freshwater Chironomidae , 1986 .

[41]  Towns.  Limnological characteristics of a South Australian intermittent stream, Brown Hill Creek , 1985 .

[42]  J. Bishop.  The Invertebrate Fauna , 1973 .

[43]  D. R. Oliver,et al.  Life History of the Chironomidae , 1971 .