Evaluating the multiple mechanisms underlying herbivore-algal interactions in streams

Abstract

Stream algal responses to herbivory were investigated under different environmental conditions. Snail densities and nutrient concentrations were manipulated in experimental enclosures to document the influence of nutrient availability on the magnitude of algal responses to herbivory. Periphyton mats in other enclosures were subjected to physical disruption by artificial means to evaluate the influence of disturbance on algal abundance. The impact of herbivory on algal abundance decreased substantially with increase in water column nutrient concentrations. This result was explained by findings that: (1) algal accumulation was constrained by nutrient availability under ambient water quality conditions. (2) accumulation of most algal populations was stimulated by nutrient enrichment only under grazed conditions. Thus, snail grazing simultaneously exerted a negative impact on algal abundance, by removal and consumption of a portion of the periphyton mat, and a stimulative effect, by increasing the availability of nutrients to remaining cells. Algal responses to artificial disturbance indicated that stimulative effects of herbivory were caused by the physical disruption of thr assemblage rather than by other processes (e. g., nutrient regeneration). However, consumptive losses far outweighed stimulative effects on algal abundance under ambient nutrient conditions. The magnitude of these two antagonistic effects was comparable under enriched conditions because grazing had only slight effects on algal abundance. Thus, the importance of different mechanisms of algal-herbivore interactions is strongly influenced by ambient environmental conditions, a finding that has important implications for predicting the outcome of herbivore-algal interactions in ecosystems with pronounced temporal and spatial variation in biotic and abiotic conditions.