Effects of pulse and press drying disturbance on benthic stream communities

Lynch, Dustin T.; Magoulick, Daniel D.

doi:10.1086/687843

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Seasonal stream drying during the summer in regions such as the Ozark Highlands is typical of a press perturbation, in which a disturbance occurs and is maintained at a steady rate (Bender et al., ). The same streams may also experience short‐term, intense drying events that represent pulse perturbations, in which disturbance occurs and then conditions quickly return to normal levels (Lake, ; Lynch & Magoulick, ). Supra‐seasonal droughts represent extreme ramp disturbances in which the perturbation increases in strength over time (Lake, ) and may be much more difficult for organisms to cope with due to a lack of predictability in timing or duration (Lake, ; Lynch & Magoulick, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The same streams may also experience short‐term, intense drying events that represent pulse perturbations, in which disturbance occurs and then conditions quickly return to normal levels (Lake, ; Lynch & Magoulick, ). Supra‐seasonal droughts represent extreme ramp disturbances in which the perturbation increases in strength over time (Lake, ) and may be much more difficult for organisms to cope with due to a lack of predictability in timing or duration (Lake, ; Lynch & Magoulick, ). Ideally, natural temporal variation, including infrequent major disturbances such as severe floods (Matthews, ; Matthews, Marsh‐Matthews, Adams, & Adams, ) or supra‐seasonal droughts (Lake, ), should be integrated into biomonitoring studies (Sousa, ; Stoddard, Larsen, Hawkins, Johnson, & Norris, ), although this might be challenging due to the logistics of monitoring many sites over extended periods (MacDonald & Cote, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is a crucial centre of biodiversity and endemism for many taxonomic groups of aquatic organisms (TNC‐OEAT, ). Stream drying is a critical part of the disturbance regime in this ecoregion and has strong effects on many aspects of stream community structure and function, including density and richness of fish assemblages (Dekar & Magoulick, ), crayfish habitat selection (DiStefano, Magoulick, Imhoff, & Larson, ), seasonal migration and refuge use by fish species (Hodges & Magoulick, ), leaf breakdown (Magoulick, ) and periphyton growth (Lynch & Magoulick, ). Freshwater biodiversity in this region is threatened by many anthropogenic impacts, including rapidly growing urban areas and extensive agricultural development affecting water quality (Haggard, ; Petersen et al., ; Scott, Haggard, Sharpley, & Romeis, ), expansion in natural gas extraction (Johnson et al., 2015), displacement of native crayfish by invasive species (Larson, Magoulick, Turner, & Laycock, ; Magoulick & DiStefano, ) and direct hydrologic alteration of streams via construction of dams and reservoirs and catchment development (The Nature Conservancy, Ozarks Ecoregional Assessment Team (TNC‐OEAT), ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of drought on flow‐ecology relationships in Ozark Highland streams

2018

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Drought and summer drying can have strong effects on abiotic and biotic components of stream ecosystems. Environmental flow‐ecology relationships may be affected by drought and drying, adding further uncertainty to the already complex interaction of flow with other environmental variables, including geomorphology and water quality. Environment–ecology relationships in stream communities in Ozark Highland streams, USA, were examined over two years with contrasting environmental conditions, a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). We analysed fish, crayfish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages using two different approaches: (1) a multiple regression analysis incorporating predictor variables related to habitat, water quality, geomorphology and hydrology and (2) a canonical ordination procedure using only hydrologic variables in which forward selection was used to select predictors that were most related to our response variables. Reach‐scale habitat quality and geomorphology were found to be the most important influences on community structure, but hydrology was also important, particularly during the flood year. We also found substantial between‐year variation in environment–ecology relationships. Some ecological responses differed significantly between drought and flood years, while others remained consistent. We found that magnitude was the most important flow component overall, but that there was a shift in relative importance from low flow metrics during the drought year to average flow metrics during the flood year, and the specific metrics of importance varied markedly between assemblages and years. Findings suggest that understanding temporal variation in flow‐ecology relationships may be crucial for resource planning. While some relationships show temporal variation, others are consistent between years. Additionally, different kinds of hydrologic variables can differ greatly in terms of which assemblages they affect and how they affect them. Managers can address this complexity by focusing on relationships that are temporally stable and flow metrics that are consistently important across groups, such as flood frequency and flow variability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of drought on flow‐ecology relationships in Ozark Highland streams

2018

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“…Drought severity is characterised by periods of low flows that vary in temporal extent and predictability (Lake, 2003;Lennox, Crook, Moyle, Struthers, & Cooke, 2019). Moreover, drought is a ramp disturbance, in which the perturbation intensifies over time and may prove more challenging for organisms due to a lack of predictability in timing or duration (Lake, 2003;Lynch & Magoulick, 2016). Moreover, drought is a ramp disturbance, in which the perturbation intensifies over time and may prove more challenging for organisms due to a lack of predictability in timing or duration (Lake, 2003;Lynch & Magoulick, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stream organisms experiencing seasonal drying have evolved adaptations to water scarcity, although these adaptations may not entirely protect them from the suite of stresses associated with drying events (Boulton, 2003). Moreover, drought is a ramp disturbance, in which the perturbation intensifies over time and may prove more challenging for organisms due to a lack of predictability in timing or duration (Lake, 2003;Lynch & Magoulick, 2016). For example, the formation of isolated pools during drought prevents the normal transport of nutrients, biota and organic matter downstream, and can produce distinct lentic conditions among pools (Lake, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass loss and change in species dominance shift stream community excretion stoichiometry during severe drought

et al. 2019

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1. Animals contribute significantly to nutrient cycling through excretion, but most studies consider their effects under relatively benign abiotic conditions. Disturbances such as drought may alter animals' nutrient contributions through shifts in species composition and biomass. Headwater streams are particularly vulnerable to extreme climate events and thus might show rapid changes in stream biota and their ecosystem effects.2. We tested how biomass and subsequent ecosystem effects (nutrient cycling) of an intermittent prairie stream community changed during a drought. We quantified the biomass and contributions to nutrient cycling for assemblages comprising fishes, crayfish, and tadpoles in 12 isolated pools over 3 months encompassing the harshest drought on record for Kings Creek, KS, U.S.A. We predicted that macroconsumer biomass would decline with pool surface area and that differences in macroconsumer biomass and taxonomic composition would lead to different contributions of pool assemblages to nutrient cycling.3. The biomass of pool assemblages declined with decreasing pool size, a pattern apparently driven by mortality, emigration, or metamorphosis. We also observed a change in assemblage structure of drying pools during drought relative to pool size, shifting dominance toward species with more drought-resistant traits.Accordingly, assemblage nitrogen (N) excretion rates declined as pool biomass was reduced, leading to a 58% reduction in N available to epilithic biofilms. Phosphorus (P) excretion rates declined from June to July, but increased in August, as species with high P excretion rates maintained similar proportional biomass and biomass of a non-native fish increased. Molar N:P of pool assemblage excretion declined significantly throughout the drought and coincided with loss of southern redbelly dace (Chrosomus erythrogaster: Cyprinidae). 4. Animal-mediated nutrient cycling was altered by the loss of biomass and stoichiometric traits of taxa that differed in their occurrences and ability to tolerate abiotic conditions during drought. Elevated availability of dissolved N in isolated pools may increase N uptake rates by biofilms during drought conditions, indicating the importance of N excreted by aggregated macroconsumers, especially those with S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Hopper GW, Gido KB, Pennock CA, et al. Biomass loss and change in species dominance shift stream community excretion stoichiometry during severe drought.

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