Alterations in periphyton characteristics due to grazing in a Cascade foothill stream

Abstract

SUMMARY 1. In situ experiments were conducted in a Washington stream to quantify the effects of grazing by a caddisfly larva, Dicosmoecus gilvipes (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae), and a mayfly nymph, Nixe rosea (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) on periphyton biomass, structure, and function.2. Dicosmoecus gilvipes reduced periphyton biomass from 92 mg m−2(as mean chlorophyll a) to 33 mg m−2. The grazed assemblage was less diverse and composed of smaller, closely attached diatoms, whereas there was a higher proportion of overstorey and filamenttius algae in the diverse, ungrazed periphyton.3. By maintaining the periphyton community as a thin layer of diatoms, grazing by D. gilvipes appeared to promote a healthier, more vigorous community relative to the ungrazed mat, which became senescent in the latter part of the experiment.4. Nixe rosea had little measurable effect on any characteristics of the periphyton measured. These nymphs apparently preferred small diatoms, which resulted in only micro‐scale alterations in periphyton characteristics that were difficult to detect.5. Biomass accrual of ungrazed and grazed periphyton was described by the logistic growth equation. Loss of biomass due to grazing by D. gilvipesor to senescence and sloughing were incorporated in the model to account for changes in grazed and ungrazed periphyton. respectively. Proposed mechanisms which described biomass accumulation were largely sup ported by model predictions.