Stream food webs are supported by carbon produced within the stream (autochthonous) and from terrestrial environments (allochthonous). Allochthonous carbon (C) inputs are assumed to be the dominant C source supporting food webs within small streams, but few direct estimates of resource use in small streams have been made, especially in boreal streams. The objective of this study was to determine the relative dependence on allochthonous and autochthonous C by consumers in relation to C pools within streams with high terrestrial inputs. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate if the relative resource use of allochthonous and autochthonous C by consumers differed among seasons (summer and fall), between streams of different sizes, and locations within the catchment. To estimate consumer resource use, δ2H signatures for organic C sources were compared to those of six key consumers in five streams of varying catchment sizes in northern Sweden. Macroinvertebrate biomass was quantified to calculate a taxa-specific biomass-weighted allochthony, and compared with the mass of different C pools potentially available for consumers. The biomass-weighted mean allochthony for all samplings ranged between 43.5-61.5%; there was thus high autochthonous support despite low algal density and high terrestrial C pools within the streams. No significant trend in allochthony was observed over season (linear regression, p-value >0.05). Allochthony differed by invertebrate taxa and was not related to stream size or location in catchment. These results suggest that autochthonous C is far more important for consumers in boreal streams than previously recognized.

Inland waters receive substantial amounts of organic carbon from adjacent watersheds. Only about half of the carbon exported from inland waters reaches the oceans, while the remainder is lost en route. This thesis identifies flocculation as an important and significant fate of carbon in the boreal landscape. Flocculation reallocates organic carbon from the dissolved state into particles which are prone to settle. Thus, flocculation relocates organic carbon from the water column to the sediment. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC), mainly originating from terrestrial sources, in a set of Swedish lakes was found to determine the extent of sedimentation of particulate organic carbon. A major fraction of the settling particles were of allochthonous origin. This implies that allochthonous DOC was the precursor of the settling matter in these lakes. The gross sedimentation was of the same magnitude as the evasion of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Sunlight, especially in the photosynthetically active region, stimulated flocculation of DOC. The effect of light appeared to involve a direct photochemical reaction. Iron was involved in the flocculation but it could not be unravelled whether the iron catalyzes the flocculation or just co-precipitates with the settling matter. Microbial activity was identified as the main regulator of the flocculation rates. Accordingly, alteration of temperature, oxygen concentration and pH did not affect flocculation only indirectly, via their effects on microbial metabolism. A comparison of fluorescence characteristics of organic matter collected in sediment trap and in the sediment surface layer revealed that autochthonous organic carbon was preferentially lost in the sediments while allochthonous matter increased. The recalcitrant nature of the flocculated matter could favour sequestration of this matter in the lake sediment. Hence, the lakes will act as sinks of organic carbon due to a slower mineralization of the flocculated matter in the sediments.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T14:38:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tassia.pdf: 1244152 bytes, checksum: 94c85e90bbbe81a039be502cd6b74f66 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Different land uses directly affect the characteristics of a river basin, reflecting the health and integrity of the aquatic environment, and consequently influence the aquatic biota and ecosystem processes. This study aimed to analyze the structure and community composition of aquatic invertebrates and the role of these organisms in the process of decomposition of leaf litter in streams with different land uses. Samples were collected in the period from September to December 2013 in five streams of western Paraná. At each stream were placed 18 bags containing litter for colonization by aquatic invertebrates during the exposure times of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days. Significant spatial differences in the structure and composition of the community of aquatic invertebrates in the studied streams were recorded. There were no significant differences in the activity of aquatic invertebrates in the leaf decomposition process streams with different land uses. But there were differences in the variability of decomposition between the streams, and the reference stream showed lower variability in the decomposition process. This result may have been influenced by habitat quality, availability of organic matter, and the structure and composition of benthic community present in the reference stream, which differs significantly between locations with different types of land use. The results of this study demonstrate that human interference in the aquatic environment through land use can influence negativity in ecosystem processes, particularly in invertebrate activity during the processing of allochthonous material, as well as modify the structure and composition of the biota. / Diferentes usos do solo afetam diretamente as características de uma bacia hidrográfica, refletindo na saúde e integridade do ambiente aquático, e, consequentemente, influenciam a biota aquática e os processos ecossistêmicos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a estrutura e composição da comunidade de invertebrados aquáticos e o papel desses organismos no processo de decomposição de detritos foliares em riachos com diferentes usos do solo. As coletas foram realizadas no período de setembro a dezembro de 2013 em cinco riachos da região oeste do Paraná. Em cada riacho foram colocadas 18 bolsas contendo folhiço para a colonização por invertebrados aquáticos durante os tempos de exposição de 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 e 90 dias. Foram registradas diferenças espaciais significativas na estrutura e composição da comunidade de invertebrados aquáticos entre os riachos estudados. Não houve diferenças significativas na atividade de invertebrados aquáticos durante o processo de decomposição foliar em riachos com diferentes usos do solo. Porém houve diferenças na variabilidade da decomposição entre os riachos, sendo que o riacho de referência apresentou menor variabilidade no processo de decomposição. Esse resultado pode ter sido influenciado pela qualidade do hábitat, disponibilidade de matéria orgânica, e pela estrutura e composição da comunidade bentônica presente no riacho de referência, a qual difere significativamente entre os locais com diferentes tipos de ocupação do solo. Os resultados deste estudo demonstram que a interferência humana no ambiente aquático, por meio do uso do solo, pode influenciar negatividade nos processos ecossistêmicos, em especial na atividade de invertebrados durante o processamento de material alóctone, além de modificar a estrutura e composição da biota.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Zoology, 2007. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references.

Climate change scenarios predict that seawater temperature and precipitation will increase in the Baltic Sea region during the next century. In the northern part of the Baltic Sea, increasing inflows of the terrestrial allochthonous dissolved organic matter (ADOM) are expected to be a major consequence of elevated rainfall, which can alter light and nutrient availability for phytoplankton. The aim of my thesis was to elucidate effects of ADOM on phytoplankton production, community, size-structure and nutritional strategy along offshore south-north gradients in the Baltic Sea, as well as in estuarine systems exposed to seasonal variation in river discharge. Field studies, a mesocosm experiment and a modeling study were used to explore these issues. Results from the field studies and mesocosm experiment illustrated that the nutritional strategy, size-structure and cellular pigment content of the phytoplankton were governed by changes in ADOM, and thus in light and nutrient availability. A summer study along an offshore south-north gradient showed that the proportion of mixotrophic phytoplankton increased towards the north. In this area the concentrations humic substances (proxy for ADOM) were high, while the light availability and phosphorus concentrations were relatively low. The phytoplankton cells responded to reduced light availability by increasing their chlorophyll a: carbon ratio. Additionally, the levels of photoprotective pigments decreased from south to north, as a result of acclimation to a low-light environment and reduced exposure to ultraviolet radiation. According to ecological assumptions picophytoplankton should be favored in light- and nutrient-limited environments. However, the results did not follow that pattern, the proportion of picophytoplankton being highest in the relatively nutrient rich Baltic Proper. The study was performed during the decline of an extensive bloom of filamentous cyanobacteria, a successional phase in which picophytoplankton often dominate the phytoplankton community. The estuarine studies performed in the Bothnian Bay (Råne estuary) and in the Bothnian Sea (Öre estuary) showed different successions. In the Råne estuary no spring phytoplankton bloom occurred and highest primary production was observed during the summer. This absence of a spring bloom was explained by low phosphorus and high ADOM concentrations, while the summer maximum could be explained by higher temperature and nutrient concentrations. In the Öre estuary a marked phytoplankton spring bloom was observed as well as an ADOM sustained bacterial production phase. The later secondary peak of bacterial production observed in summer, concomitant with an extended secondary primary production peak, suggests that autochthonous dissolved organic matter supported the bacterial growth Furthermore, the photosynthetic efficiency (i.e. phytoplankton growth rates) was lower during spring, indicating that high ADOM, and thus lower light and phosphorus availability, disfavored phytoplankton growth. Our modeling study showed that climate change can impact the food web; however effects will be different between basins. In the southern Baltic Sea elevated temperature and nutrient discharge may promote nutrient recycling and oxygen consumption, potentially extending anoxic areas, sediment nutrient release and cyanobacteria blooms. In the north, increased inflow of ADOM may promote heterotrophic bacterial production and decrease primary production due to light attenuation and lower phosphorus availability. This will favor the heterotrophic microbial food web and consequently lead to lower food web efficiency of the ecosystem.

Variation in quality and quantity of food resources can affect consumer productivity responses throughout the food chain, particularly the efficiency at which basal resources are converted to consumer biomass. I performed a manipulative feeding experiment to investigate the somatic growth and fatty acid incorporation in the benthic generalist isopod Asellus aquaticus, in response to differing ratios of autochthonous (high quality algae) to allochthonous (low quality leaf litter) foods. I used stable isotopes to quantify the assimilated diet proportions across a range of diet treatments to determine the relative resources that contributed to growth. There were significant differences in growth between treatments, being lowest in treatments A (100% leaf litter) and G (100% algae), with highest growth experienced in treatment B (90% leaf litter/ 10% algae). Stable isotope data revealed that there was very little variation in algal assimilation among combined diet treatments. Fatty acids (FA) indicators eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA):total FA and EPA:omega 3 (ω3) FA and arachidonic acid (ARA):total FA declined with increasing growth and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA):ω3 showed a positive relationship with growth. These findings provide support for previous feeding trials conducted with Asellus, though there are some contrasts with zooplankton. The results suggest a balance between allochthonous and autochthonous dietary sources combine to enhance primary consumer fitness, and the relative availability of each may interact to determine growth and accumulation of important FA compounds. In terms of FA and trophic transfer, temporal and spatial variation in consumer physiological demands might determine the retention and use of FA.

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Autotrophs and heterotrophs differ in their demand, acquisition and use of materials, but fundamentally nutrient demand is inherently linked to metabolism based on the stoichiometry of biochemical reactions. The differences between these two groups of organisms confound straightforward regression approaches to quantifying the relationship between nutrient demand and metabolism at an ecosystem level. We address how nutrient demand in headwater streams changes with shifts in organic matter supply and associated microbial activity by investigating these relationships in the predominantly heterotrophic conditions of a southern Appalachian stream. We measured litter input, organic matter standing crops, litter respiration rates and nitrate demand several times during the course of decomposition. There was a strong relationship between leaf standing crop and nitrate uptake efficiency across dates with maximal efficiency occurring when litter standing crops were highest. There was also an increase in nitrogen (N) uptake rate relative to respiration rates as breakdown progressed, which appears to be due to a shift in nutrient supply from the substrate to the water column associated with the depletion of labile, high quality organic matter in the substrate. It is our contention that streams establish a gradient of resource supply from particulate to dissolved sources that coincides with the movement of materials from terrestrial to marine systems. / Master of Science