Light limitation in a stream ecosystem: Responses by primary producers and consumers
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
Heavy shade presents serious challenges for primary producers and food-limited herbivores in forest streams. This study examines the response of periphyton and grazing snails (Elimia clavaeformis) to summer shade in White Oak Creek (WOC) in a Tennessee deciduous forest. Three experiments were performed: (1) in situ manipulation of light and snail density to test the effects of light limitation and grazing; (2) construction of photosynthesis-irradiance (P-I) curves to test for shade adaptation by periphyton; and (3) measurements of snail growth vs. irradiance. In the first experiment, light and snail densities were manipulated in a 2 x 2 factorial design. Snails at normal densities cropped periphyton biomass to low levels regardless of light regime, but periphyton productivity was higher at the open sites where snails grew faster and accumulated more lipid. Snail growth and lipid accumulation were strongly affected by intraspecific competition in both light regimes. In the second experiment, photosynthesis-irradiance curves for periphyton from shaded and open sites illustrated considerable shade adaptation: shaded periphyton was 2 times more efficient at low irradiance than with periphyton from open sites. Despite the greater efficiency of shaded periphyton at low irradiance, integrated primary production estimated with photosynthetic models was 4 times greater in the open because shade adaptation provided only partial compensation for the shade. In the third experiment, in situ snail growth again increased with decreasing shade. Bottom-up effects of light limitation were propagated very strongly in WOC, where the vertebrate fauna is dominated by a grazer that appears to escape top-down control. 68 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 93921
- Journal Information:
- Ecology, Vol. 76, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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