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THE EFFECTS OF RIPARIAN MANAGEMENT ON DETRITUS PROCESSING AND INVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES IN COASTAL PLAIN INTERMITTENT STREAMS
Citation:
Fritz, K M. AND J. W. Feminella. THE EFFECTS OF RIPARIAN MANAGEMENT ON DETRITUS PROCESSING AND INVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES IN COASTAL PLAIN INTERMITTENT STREAMS. Presented at North American Benthological Society, Vancouver, Canada, June 6-10, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
The goal of this research is to develop methods and indicators that are useful for evaluating the condition of aquatic communities, for assessing the restoration of aquatic communities in response to mitigation and best management practices, and for determining the exposure of aquatic communities to different classes of stressors (i.e., pesticides, sedimentation, habitat alteration).
Description:
Silviculture is the primary land use within many Coastal Plain watersheds of the southeastern United States, where most forested wetlands are found along headwater intermittent streams. Our study compared invertebrate assemblages and breakdown of buried detritus (leaves, wood, and roots) among three riparian management treatments (clear cut, thinned, and intact). Decay rates did not differ among riparian treatments or detritus types over the one year incubation. Slow decay rates were associated initially with anaerobic conditions within sandy sediments and later with dry conditions. Abundance, diversity and biomass of invertebrates varied among riparian treatments and substrate types, but not consistently so across sampling periods. When differences occurred, ivnertebrate variables from the clear cut treatment were significantly lower than those from intact and thinned treatments, possibly from extremely high and variable temperature regimes in this treatment. Assemblages from the clear cut treatment became more dissimilar from other treatments over time. Patterns of assemblage structure were driven by riparian treatment and seasonal succession rather than substrate type. Riparian clear cutting appears to affect invertebrate assemblages inhabiting both aquatic and terrestrial phases of the intermittence cycle.