No abstract

1. Oligotrophic Arctic streams are likely to be sensitive to changes in hydrology and nutrient inputs predicted to occur as a consequence of future climate and land use change.To investigate the potential consequences of nutrient enrichment for low-order Arctic streams, we added ammonium-N and phosphorous to a second-order beaded, tundra stream on Alaska's north slope. We measured responses in nutrient chemistry, chlorophyll a standing crop, and in the breakdown and macroinvertebrate colonisation of leaf litter over a 38-day summer period. 2. During the addition, nutrient concentrations immediately downstream of the dripper averaged 6.4 lM M ammonium-N and 0.45 lM M soluble reactive P. Concentrations upstream of the dripper averaged 0.54 lM M ammonium-N and 0.03 lM M soluble reactive P. Uptake of both nutrients was rapid. Concentrations were reduced on average to 28% (ammonium-N) and 15% (inorganic P) of maximum values within 1500 m. Standing crops of chlorophyll a on standardised samplers were significantly higher by the end of the experiment. Breakdown rates of senescent willow (Salix sp.) and sedge (Carex sp.) litter and associated fungal biomass were also significantly increased by nutrient addition. 3. Fertilisation resulted in four-to sevenfold higher macroinvertebrate abundance and twoto fourfold higher macroinvertebrate biomass in litter bags, as well as an increase in latesummer body mass of larval Nemoura stoneflies. 4. Our results are consistent with those of similar studies of larger streams in the highArctic region. Based on our short-term experiment, increased inputs of nutrients into these ecosystems, whether caused by climate change or more local disturbance, are likely to have profound ecological consequences. Longer-term effects of enrichment, and their interaction with other components of future change in climate or land use, are more difficult to assess.

1. Nutrient enrichment and resulting eutrophication is a widespread anthropogenic influence on freshwater ecosystems, but recovery from nutrient enrichment is poorly understood, especially in stream environments. We examined multi-year patterns in community recovery from experimental low-concentration nutrient enrichment (N + P or P only) in three reaches of two Arctic tundra streams (Kuparuk River and Oksrukuyik Creek) on the North Slope of Alaska (U.S.A.). 2. Rates of recovery varied among community components and depended on duration of enrichment (2-13 consecutive growing seasons). Biomass of epilithic algae returned to reference levels rapidly (within 2 years), regardless of nutrients added or enrichment duration. Aquatic bryophyte cover, which increased greatly in the Kuparuk River only after long-term enrichment (8 years), took 8 years of recovery to approach reference levels, after storms had scoured most remnant moss in the recovering reach. 3. Multi-year persistence of bryophytes in the Kuparuk River appeared to prevent recovery of insect populations that had either been positively (e.g. the mayfly Ephemerella, most chironomid midge taxa) or negatively (e.g. the tube-building chironomid Orthocladius rivulorum) affected by this shift in dominant primary producer. These lags in recovery (of >3 years) were probably driven by the persistent effect of bryophytes on physical benthic habitat. 4. Summer growth rates of Arctic grayling (both adults and young-of-year) in Oksrukuyik Creek (fertilised for 6 years with no bryophyte colonisation), which were consistently increased by nutrient addition, returned to reference rates within 1-2 years. 5. Rates of recovery of these virtually pristine Arctic stream ecosystems from low-level nutrient enrichment appeared to be controlled largely by duration of enrichment, mediated through physical habitat shifts caused by eventual bryophyte colonisation, and subsequent physical disturbance that removed bryophytes. Nutrient enrichment of oligotrophic Arctic stream ecosystems caused by climate change or local anthropogenic activity may have dramatic and persistent consequences if it results in the colonisation of long-lived primary producers that alter physical habitat.