The influence of chemistry and habitat features on the microcrustacea of some upland Welsh streams

Rundle, Simon D.; Ormerod, Stephen James

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.1991.tb01411.x

Cited by 31 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Marcarelli et al (2011) similarly found that food quality can be more important than quantity of standing crop in driving ecosystem productivity. Second, defended taxa, including both Potamopyrgus and Ostracoda, have been reported to dominate in areas with high macrophyte biomass (Rundle and Ormerod 1991, Humphries et al 1996, Collier et al 1999, Jaschinski et al 2011), which we observed in this study as well.…”

Section: Community Composition and Trophic Interactionssupporting

confidence: 76%

Aquatic macrophytes alter productivity‐richness relationships in eutrophic stream food webs

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Traditional productivity-diversity theory predicts that eutrophication will result in greater species richness due to increased resources at the bottom of the food web. However, few studies on the effects of increasing ecosystem productivity on biological communities have included responses at multiple trophic levels. We hypothesized that the effect of eutrophication on species richness would vary between different trophic levels due to shifts in community composition and trophic interactions. To investigate the mechanisms driving productivity-richness relationships, we constructed food webs for 18 streams across a eutrophication gradient on South Island, New Zealand, and measured productivity, water quality, and habitat characteristics in each stream. A principal components analysis yielded two orthogonal axes of eutrophication: one associated with macrophytes, benthic substrate, and gross primary productivity (GPP) and the other with catchment area, temperature, and algal standing stock (chlorophyll a). Surprisingly, the majority of community response variables, especially defended primary consumer abundance and biomass, were more strongly associated with the macrophyte/habitat axis. The lack of change in abundance and declines in biomass and average mass of predatory invertebrates and fish with increasing eutrophication, despite increases in prey abundance, suggest that energy was not being passed up the food chain to higher trophic levels. The predominance of defended producers (macrophytes) and consumers (snails and microcrustacea) in eutrophic streams likely served as trophic bottlenecks; both are largely inedible by higher trophic levels. Consequently, our results suggest that managers need to focus on preserving food web linkages and energy flow, as well as biodiversity, in eutrophic systems.

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Section: Community Composition and Trophic Interactionssupporting

confidence: 76%

Aquatic macrophytes alter productivity‐richness relationships in eutrophic stream food webs

et al. 2015

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“…Among abiotic factors, pH plays an important role in the species composition of benthic copepod assemblages (Rundle & Hildrew, 1990;Rundle & Ormerod, 1991;Fryer, 1993a,b) and circumneutral conditions harbour the highest species richness (Fryer, 1980). However, species densities of Moraria brevipes are negatively correlated with pH (Rundle, 1990).…”

Section: Physical and Chemical Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biology and ecology of lotic microcrustaceans

et al. 2000

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Summary Copepoda, Ostracoda and ‘Cladocera’ are important meiobenthic Crustacea which can be both numerically abundant and species rich in running waters. Harpacticoids and ostracods are well adapted to benthic life because they are typical crawlers, walkers, and burrowers. Many cladocerans are substratum dwellers, but most benthic species among these can also swim. Cyclopoids which are generally good swimmers are nevertheless often bottom frequenters and actively colonise sediment interstices (the hyporheic zone). For each of the three major taxa, morphological characteristics are presented, specimen collection and preparation are described and references to available taxonomical keys are provided. Biological characteristics are extremely diverse among and within the three taxa, resulting in a great variety of strategies in meiobenthic crustaceans. Characteristics of reproduction, sexual dimorphism, cyclomorphosis and population parameters (i.e. clutch size, lifespan, growth, moulting) are provided for some of the most common species. Important differences between the three main taxa were found at the species level. Ecological requirements such as hydraulic microhabitats and geomorphologic features of the streambed are the major determinants of species diversity and abundance for benthic microcrustacea of lotic habitats. Many studies on the ecology of these communities are limited by a lack of knowledge of the life history characterisitics of lotic (especially interstitial) crustacean populations.

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“…Studies focussed on the spatial and temporal distribution of riverine microorganisms have essentially examined only the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities (Rzoska, 1968;Saunders & Lewis, 1988;Brown et al, 1989;Hamilton et al, 1990;Rundle & Ormerod, 1991;Vranosky´, 1995;Pourriot et al, 1997;Reckendorfer et al, 1999;Viroux, 1999) and, to our knowledge, bacteria, heterotrophic flagellates or ciliates have not been documented together with the other components of the plankton.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Spatio-temporal Investigations on the Planktonic Organisms of the Middle Loire (France), During the Low Water Period: Biodiversity and Community Dynamics

Picard

Lair

2005

Hydrobiologia

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The objective of this work was to analyse the distribution of the planktonic communities involved in the functioning of a 255-km river stretch and to get a better understanding of the influence of the river morphology on the diversity and dynamics of the micro-organisms. The planktonic communities (phytoplankton, bacterioplankton, proto-and metazooplankton) scarcely considered together in fluvial systems, were analysed at four sites of the Middle Loire during the low water period, in parallel to physical and chemical analyses. Physical and chemical variables such as turbidity, pH, suspended matter and chlorophyll a concentration were high, illustrating the classical, productive summer period. The algae played a major role in the water oxygenation until end-summer, then the algal drop concomitant to the bacterial sustained abundance appeared responsible for oxygen depletion. The downstream site enriched by nutrients inputs of two tributaries, carried the highest algal and bacterial densities. Situated in a meanders zone, the Middle Loire is characterised by a high habitat heterogeneity, the up-and downstream sites were wide and spread of vast standing zones and vegetated islands, whereas the two intermediate ones were narrower and more uniform. This morphological variability strongly impacted the micro-organisms diversity and distribution. Indeed, the algae and zooplankton composition were clearly influenced by the physical habitats of the river, the Cyanophyta were favoured by the lentic conditions and the Bacillariophyta by the turbulent ones, while the young stage of copepod and the large rotifer predators were indicator of a lentic origin. Thereafter, the river heterogeneity interfered with the zooplankton dynamics, the standing conditions enhancing the rotifer predation. In that way, we hypothesise that two opposite patterns characterised the wide sites spread of lentic water and the more uniform channels. In the first case, the zooplankton could prey on the ciliates protozoan, which in return favoured the flagellate ones; conversely in the second situation the zooplankton limited by the physical constraints did not impact the ciliates which could depress the flagellates. Thus, the similar geomorphology of the distant upstream and downstream sites (255-km apart) induced relatively close organisms distribution. Hence, disagreeing with the river continuum concept, this assertion shows the strong influence played by the local morphological characteristics of the Middle Loire in potamoplankton composition and dynamics.

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The influence of chemistry and habitat features on the microcrustacea of some upland Welsh streams

Cited by 31 publications

References 36 publications

Aquatic macrophytes alter productivity‐richness relationships in eutrophic stream food webs

Aquatic macrophytes alter productivity‐richness relationships in eutrophic stream food webs

The biology and ecology of lotic microcrustaceans

Spatio-temporal Investigations on the Planktonic Organisms of the Middle Loire (France), During the Low Water Period: Biodiversity and Community Dynamics

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