Abstract |
The paper deals with a portion of a long term study aimed at determining an energy budget for a lotic ecosystem, at the greatest level of detail feasible and employing the maximum possible amount of original data. The broad plan of investigation was conceived to consist of the following components: Determine community composition, standing crop fluctuations and an ingestion food web for the riffle portion of a natural stream ecosystem; Determine production (growth and reproduction) and the assignment of maintenance costs (respiration) at the level of populations; Determine intra- (photosynthesis by periphytic algae) and inter-community (terrestrial and upstream contributions) supply of organic matter, as well as the loss (downstream) from the community; Establish a stable, semi-natural lotic system; Conduct manipulative experiments relative to the relationship between community stability and energy flow. |