You are here:
MICROBIAL COLONIZATION, RESPIRATION AND BREAKDOWN OF MAPLE LEAVES ALONG A STREAM-MARSH CONTINUUM
Citation:
Hill, B H. AND W. T. Perrotte Jr. MICROBIAL COLONIZATION, RESPIRATION AND BREAKDOWN OF MAPLE LEAVES ALONG A STREAM-MARSH CONTINUUM. HYDROBIOLOGIA 312(1):11-16, (1995).
Description:
Breakdown rates, macroinvertebrate and bacterial colonization, and microbial respiration were measured on decaying maple leaves at three sites along a stream-marsh continuum. Breakdown rates were 0.0284+/-0.0045 d-1 for leaves in a high-gradient, non-tidal stream; 0.0112 +/- 0.0019 d-1 for leaves at the confluence of the stream with a tidal, freshwater marsh; and 0.0062 +/- 0.0009 d-1 for leaves in the tidal, freshwater marsh. Breakdown rates were significantly faster at the high-gradient, non-tidal stream site and at the tidal stream site than in the tidal marsh. Macroinvertebrate density on decaying leaves was low at all sites and was dominated by chironomids and amphipods. Cumulative microbial respiration, calculated as the product of mean respiration on a sampling date, days in the interval preceding the sampling date, and hours per day, accounted for 34.3 +/- 6.0%, 53.0 +/- 4.8%, and 51.5 +/- 7.9% of the leaf mass loss (as carbon) at these sites. Although the breakdown rate was fastest at the non- tidal stream site, significantly less leaf mass was lost through microbial respiration. Most mass loss from leaves at this site was probably due to physical processing associated with stream habitats.