1992
Power, M. E.
Habitat heterogeneity and the functional significance of fish in river food webs Journal Article
In: Ecology, vol. 73, no. 5, pp. 1675-1688, 1992.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Benthos, fish; food webs, omnivore: refuges, river communities, strong interactions, substrate heterogeneity: trophic cascades.
@article{Power1992b,
title = {Habitat heterogeneity and the functional significance of fish in river food webs},
author = {M. E. Power},
url = {https://angelo.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/Power_1992_Eco.pdf},
doi = {10.2307/1940019},
year = {1992},
date = {1992-10-00},
journal = {Ecology},
volume = {73},
number = {5},
pages = {1675-1688},
abstract = {Predation by fish (roach, Hesperoleucas symmetricus, and steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss) produced strong cascading effects on biota associated with boulder-bedrock substrates in pools of a northern California river, but not on gravel-dwelling biota. Enclosure-exclosure experiments in the South Fork Eel River of northern California (39044'N, 123039' W) showed that fish, by suppressing densities of damselfly nymphs and other small predators, released algivorous chironomids (Pseudochironomous richardsoni) from predation. Chironomids in turn dramatically reduced algal standing crops. In contrast, fish had little effect on algae or invertebrates associated with gravel. Gravel-dwelling heptageniid mayflies were behaviorally inhibited from using tops of stones in fish enclosures, and stone
surfaces had more chironomid tubes in fish enclosures than in fish exclosures. However, no effects on epilithic algae or densities of invertebrates comparable to those of biota on boulder-bedrock substrates were detected. These spatially varying predator effects in a river parallel results from marine benthic systems, where strong effects of large predators documented for rocky intertidal habitats and unvegetated soft bottoms are not conspicuous in seagrass beds.},
keywords = {Benthos, fish; food webs, omnivore: refuges, river communities, strong interactions, substrate heterogeneity: trophic cascades.},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Predation by fish (roach, Hesperoleucas symmetricus, and steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss) produced strong cascading effects on biota associated with boulder-bedrock substrates in pools of a northern California river, but not on gravel-dwelling biota. Enclosure-exclosure experiments in the South Fork Eel River of northern California (39044’N, 123039′ W) showed that fish, by suppressing densities of damselfly nymphs and other small predators, released algivorous chironomids (Pseudochironomous richardsoni) from predation. Chironomids in turn dramatically reduced algal standing crops. In contrast, fish had little effect on algae or invertebrates associated with gravel. Gravel-dwelling heptageniid mayflies were behaviorally inhibited from using tops of stones in fish enclosures, and stone
surfaces had more chironomid tubes in fish enclosures than in fish exclosures. However, no effects on epilithic algae or densities of invertebrates comparable to those of biota on boulder-bedrock substrates were detected. These spatially varying predator effects in a river parallel results from marine benthic systems, where strong effects of large predators documented for rocky intertidal habitats and unvegetated soft bottoms are not conspicuous in seagrass beds.
surfaces had more chironomid tubes in fish enclosures than in fish exclosures. However, no effects on epilithic algae or densities of invertebrates comparable to those of biota on boulder-bedrock substrates were detected. These spatially varying predator effects in a river parallel results from marine benthic systems, where strong effects of large predators documented for rocky intertidal habitats and unvegetated soft bottoms are not conspicuous in seagrass beds.