The presence of rainbow trout reduces drift of aquatic insects in Yungas streams (Tucumán, Argentina)

Abstract

The drift or transport of individuals downstream is an important phenomenon of rivers and streams, since most aquatic organisms participate in it at some period of their life cycle. This work describes the assemblage of macroinvertebrate drift from ten sites in eight mountain streams of Tucumán, and evaluates the effect of the presence of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum), an exotic fish and visual predator, on this fraction of the community. Thirty-one (31) families of drifting aquatic invertebrates were identified, mainly immature insects and to a lesser extent water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia), oligochaetes (Annelida: Oligochaeta) and nematodes (Nematoda). The richness and diversity of the sites with trout did not differ from the others, except when comparing lower and upper reaches of a same stream. Samples from rivers without trout or with low density of trout did not show significant changes in drift density of macroinvertebrates. In contrast, in rivers with high trout densities, a notable decrease in insect taxa was observed (those with large sized individuals): Baetidae (Ephemeroptera), Gripopterygidae (Plecoptera) and Leptoceridae (Trichoptera). On the contrary, the density of small Diptera, water mites, oligochets and nematodes increased in trout-streams