Crayfish and fish as bioturbators of streambed sediments: Assessing joint effects of species with different mechanistic abilities

Statzner, Bernhard; Sagnes, Pierre

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.019

Cited by 44 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 98 publications

(152 reference statements)

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“…This conditioning increased bedload flux during a subsequent high flow, with transport rates up to 340% higher from beds that had been foraged compared with beds that had been water-worked but not exposed to fish. These findings support and extend the observations of Stazner et al (2003b) and Statzner and Sagnes (2008) and the quantitative findings of Pledger et al (2014) regarding the zoogeomorphic importance of benthic foraging. In particular, this work is novel in demonstrating that fish species and size are important controls of a fishes' foraging effect, with larger fish and the species that is a specialist benthic feeder (Barbel) having the greatest impacts.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This experiment extends previous work on the zoogeomorphic effects of benthic foraging (Stazner et al, 2003b;Statzner and Sagnes, 2008;Pledger et al, 2014) by…”

Section: Implications Of Fish Foraging Behaviour For Sediment Transposupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Second, Statzner and Sagnes (2008) investigated the joint effects of Barbel, Gudgeon (Gobio gobio), and the spiny-cheek Crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and found that their net joint effects on sediment mobility were generally less than the sum of the impacts of the individual species. These findings emphasise the role of biotic factors in controlling geomorphic impact.…”

Section: ; and Other Benthic Feeders Such As Bream Abramis Brama Tenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With regard to foraging, Statzner et al (2003b) and Statzner and Sagnes (2008) have shown that biotic controls (specifically between-species interactions and shoaling, respectively) are relevant in this regard.…”

Section: ; and Other Benthic Feeders Such As Bream Abramis Brama Tenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of key issues, in addition to the need for work in natural settings, will therefore improve understanding of the foraging effect, including fuller understanding of how feeding behaviour and fish-sediment interactions vary with fish maturity across species and functional groups; the spatial and temporal footprint of benthic feeding across different species, sizes of fish, and functional groups; and the role of conspecific and interspecific interactions, including shoaling behaviour, in moderating fish-sediment interactions (cf. Statzner and Sagnes, 2008).…”

Section: Implications Of Fish Foraging Behaviour For Sediment Transpomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bed disturbance via foraging fish increases bedload transport during subsequent high flows and is controlled by fish size and species

2016

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This experiment extends previous work on the zoogeomorphic effects of benthic foraging (Stazner et al, 2003b;Statzner and Sagnes, 2008;Pledger et al, 2014) by…”

Section: Implications Of Fish Foraging Behaviour For Sediment Transposupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: ; and Other Benthic Feeders Such As Bream Abramis Brama Tenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ; and Other Benthic Feeders Such As Bream Abramis Brama Tenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications Of Fish Foraging Behaviour For Sediment Transpomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bed disturbance via foraging fish increases bedload transport during subsequent high flows and is controlled by fish size and species

2016

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The importance of biotic entrainment for base flow fluvial sediment transport

et al. 2016

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Sediment transport is regarded as an abiotic process driven by geophysical energy, but zoogeomorphological activity indicates that biological energy can also fuel sediment movements. It is therefore prudent to measure the contribution that biota make to sediment transport, but comparisons of abiotic and biotic sediment fluxes are rare. For a stream in the UK, the contribution of crayfish bioturbation to suspended sediment flux was compared with the amount of sediment moved by hydraulic forcing. During base flow periods, biotic fluxes can be isolated because nocturnal crayfish activity drives diel turbidity cycles, such that nighttime increases above daytime lows are attributable to sediment suspension by crayfish. On average, crayfish bioturbation contributed at least 32% (474 kg) to monthly base flow suspended sediment loads; this biotic surcharge added between 5.1 and 16.1 t (0.21 to 0.66 t km−2 yr−1) to the annual sediment yield. As anticipated, most sediment was moved by hydraulic forcing during floods and the biotic contribution from baseflow periods represented between 0.46 and 1.46% of the annual load. Crayfish activity is nonetheless an important impact during baseflow periods and the measured annual contribution may be a conservative estimate because of unusually prolonged flooding during the measurement period. In addition to direct sediment entrainment by bioturbation, crayfish burrowing supplies sediment to the channel for mobilization during floods so that the total biotic effect of crayfish is potentially greater than documented in this study. These results suggest that in rivers, during base flow periods, bioturbation can entrain significant quantities of fine sediment into suspension with implications for the aquatic ecosystem and base flow sediment fluxes. Energy from life rather than from elevation can make significant contributions to sediment fluxes.

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Foraging Fish as Zoogeomorphic Agents: An Assessment of Fish Impacts at Patch, Barform, and Reach Scales

2017

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Flume studies have demonstrated that foraging by fish can modify the structure and topography of gravel substrates, thereby increasing particle entrainment probabilities and the amount of sediment mobilized during subsequent experimental high flows. However, the zoogeomorphic impact of benthic foraging has not previously been investigated in the field. This paper reports field experiments that examined the nature and extent of disturbance of riverbed gravels by foraging fish, predominately Cyprinids, at patch, riffle, and reach scales and complementary ex situ experiments of the impacts on bed stability. At patch scale, benthic feeding fish displaced particle sizes ≤90 mm in diameter, increased bed surface microtopography and grain protrusion, and loosened surface structures. Although enhanced mobility was expected from these structural changes, foraging also caused localized coarsening of sediments, and the ex situ experiments recorded significantly reduced grain entrainment, bedload flux, and total transported mass from foraged patches. Foraging disturbed bed materials at all 12 riffles in the study reach and, on average, disturbed 26.1% of riffle area per 24 h feeding period. These findings demonstrate for the first time that foraging fish, which are widespread and feed perennially, can act as zoogeomorphic agents in rivers, affecting grain‐size distributions and bed material structure, with potential implications for bed stability and bedload transport at reach and river scales. Whether fish increase or reduce bed mobility is probably dependent on a host of factors, including the net effects of both structural disturbance and biogenic particle sorting, as these affect entrainment stresses under subsequent competent flows.

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Crayfish and fish as bioturbators of streambed sediments: Assessing joint effects of species with different mechanistic abilities

Cited by 44 publications

References 98 publications

Bed disturbance via foraging fish increases bedload transport during subsequent high flows and is controlled by fish size and species

Bed disturbance via foraging fish increases bedload transport during subsequent high flows and is controlled by fish size and species

The importance of biotic entrainment for base flow fluvial sediment transport

Foraging Fish as Zoogeomorphic Agents: An Assessment of Fish Impacts at Patch, Barform, and Reach Scales

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