Grazer–collector facilitation hypothesis supported by laboratory but not field experiments

Abstract

Grazing invertebrates in streams feed by harvesting algal cells from surfaces, and in doing so release fine particulate organic matter (FPOM). The "grazer–collector facilitation hypothesis" holds that FPOM production by grazers facilitates growth and (or) survival of FPOM-collecting invertebrates. We tested for grazer–collector facilitation in laboratory and field experiments. In recirculating flumes in the laboratory, we tested for facilitation of the collector Hydropsyche slossonae by the grazers Physa gyrina, Glossosoma intermedium, and Baetis tricaudatus. All three grazers increased FPOM levels in flume water, but only Physa facilitated Hydropsyche growth. In the field, we manipulated Physa and Glossosoma densities to test for facilitation (at a local scale) of natural collector assemblages in an eastern Iowa stream. We did not detect facilitation of any collector by either grazer in the field, despite high power to detect such interactions. We suspect that grazer–collector facilitation was not observed in the field because (unlike in our laboratory flumes) field FPOM levels are often high and extremely variable in time and space and because organic particles can arise from sources other than grazer activity (= grazer-independent processing). Therefore, at local scales, collectors may not be significantly limited by the supply of grazer-derived FPOM.