Belinda J. Robson

Methodological and conceptual issues in the search for a relationship between animal body-size distributions and benthic habitat architecture

Benthic ecologists have studied the distribution of animal body sizes because it is a form of ‘taxon-free’ classification that may be a useful metric for describing variation within and between ecological communities. In particular, the idea that the allometry of physiological and life-history traits may control species composition and relative abundances implies a functional link between body-size distributions and communities. The physical structure of aquatic habitats has often been cited as the mechanism by which habitat may determine body-size distributions in communities. However, further progress is hindered by a lack of theoretical clarity regarding the mechanisms that connect body size to the characteristics of ecological communities, leading to methods that may obscure interesting trends in body-size data. This review examines the methodological and conceptual issues hindering progress in the search for a relationship between animal body size and habitat architecture and suggests ways to resolve these issues. Problems are identified with current methods for the measurement of animal body size, the data and measures used to quantify body-size distributions and the methods used to identify patterns therein. Fundamentally, renewed emphasis on the mechanisms by which animal body sizes are influenced by habitat architecture is required to refine methodology and synthesise results from pattern-seeking and mechanistic studies.

The effects of land use on leaf-litter processing by macroinvertebrates in an Australian temperate coastal stream

Abstract.Replacement of riparian vegetation by pasture has occurred worldwide and is predicted to have strong effects on macroinvertebrate community structure and function in streams, but this has rarely been examined. In this study, leaf processing and macroinvertebrate community structure were examined in a single stream using experimental leaf-packs and surveys of natural leaf-packs. Two sites in each of three land use categories were selected to represent reaches in forest, pasture and forest-pasture boundary regions. In two experiments using tethered leaf-packs, no differences were found in mean leaf breakdown between land use types. However, shredding invertebrates were absent from the pasture sites, so leaf breakdown in pasture resulted from chemical, physical and microbial processes only. Amounts of fine particulate organic matter in experimental leaf-packs were higher in pasture reaches than the forest and boundary reaches but did not influence leaf breakdown. Macroinvertebrate species richness did not differ between land uses. A predictive model developed for species richness and total abundance enabled direct comparison of assemblages on experimental packs to natural leaf-packs. In the forest reach and at the forest-pasture boundary, macroinvertebrate species richness and total abundance increased proportionally with the number of leaves within a pack, but this relationship was not observed in the pasture reach. Pasture land use on Skenes Creek was therefore associated with weakened relationships between allochthonous inputs and macroinvertebrate communities, but this did not alter leaf breakdown.

Disturbance and the role of refuges in mediterranean climate streams

Refuges protect plant and animal populations from disturbance. Knowledge of refuges from disturbance in mediterranean climate rivers (med-rivers) has increased the last decade. We review disturbance processes and their relationship to refuges in streams in mediterranean climate regions (med-regions). Med-river fauna show high endemicity and their populations are often exposed to disturbance; hence the critical importance of refuges during (both seasonal and supraseasonal) disturbances. Disturbance pressures are increasing in med-regions, in particular from climatic change, salinisation, sedimentation, water extraction, hydropower generation, supraseasonal drought, and wildfire. Med-rivers show annual cycles of constrained precipitation and predictable seasonal drying, causing the biota to depend on seasonal refuges, in particular, those that are spatially predictable. This creates a spatial and temporal mosaic of inundation that determines habitat extent and refuge function. Refuges of sufficient size and duration to maintain populations, such as perennially flowing reaches, sustain biodiversity and may harbour relict populations, particularly during increasing aridification, where little other suitable habitat remains in landscapes. Therefore, disturbances that threaten perennial flows potentially cascade disproportionately to reduce regional scale biodiversity in med-regions. Conservation approaches for med-river systems need to conserve both refuges and refuge connectivity, reduce the impact of anthropogenic disturbances and sustain predictable, seasonal flow patterns.

Role of residual biofilm in the recolonization of rocky intermittent streams by benthic algae

Human use of stream flow for water supply may increase the duration and/or frequency of dry periods in intermittent streams, but there is little information on the effect of this change on in-stream flora or fauna. To predict the effects of dry periods on stream biota, it is necessary to understand the relative roles of various sources of recolonization. A transplant experiment was used to test the hypothesis that the dry residual algal biofilm on stones in intermittent streams is an important source of algal growth when the streams are re-wetted. Two sites were chosen, one on each of two intermittent streams in south-eastern Australia. Rocks at the sites differed in the amount of naturally occurring residual biofilm on them. Forty rocks were transplanted between the sites and counts of algal densities were made from samples taken one and five weeks after flow recommenced. At one of the sites, where the biofilm was dominated by Cyanobacteria, dry residual biofilm strongly influenced the developing algal community at both one and five weeks after flow recommenced. At the other site the influence of dry biofilm was limited after five weeks, implying that other sources of algal recolonization were influential there.

Freshwater Invertebrate Life History Strategies for Surviving Desiccation

AbstractIn many regions, climate change is prolonging dry periods in rivers and wetlands, exposing freshwater invertebrates to increased periods of desiccation. Invertebrates show a range of strategies for surviving desiccation, but the effects of the degree of exposure to desiccation on the expression of particular traits is unknown. This review synthesizes existing information on the desiccation responses of freshwater invertebrates to examine the flexibility of these survival strategies and the relationship between strategies and the degree of desiccation to which individuals are exposed. It focuses on desiccation at the small spatial scales experienced by individuals and clarifies the terminology of resting stages present during desiccation. We provide a key to terminology used for different forms of dormancy, so that appropriate terms may be used. All invertebrate groups showed a range of strategies for surviving desiccation. Sometimes, different traits were expressed among different populations of a species; however, it is unclear how many species show multiple desiccation response strategies. Many crustacean taxa showed physiological dormancy responses to desiccation that enabled survival for long periods (years). Insects often rely on emigration from drying waterbodies as flying adults or on larvae occupying damp refuges on the benthos. Altered water regimes may alter the phenology of desiccation responses, potentially increasing local extinctions, even in species capable of prolonged dormancy because of constraints on life cycles. However, there is limited empirical evidence demonstrating the flexibility of, or limitations to, expression of these survival strategies and their potential fitness costs.

Riverine macroinvertebrate assemblages up to 8 years after riparian restoration in a semi-rural catchment in Victoria, Australia

Willow removal followed by riparian revegetation is a widespread river restoration practice in Australia, but the ecological response to this has rarely been evaluated. We sampled river macroinvertebrates from six sites each of three riparian vegetation types: revegetated (treatment), willow-dominated (control) and native forest (reference) in the Gellibrand River catchment during austral spring 2007 and autumn 2008, and measured temperature and light intensity. Revegetated sites varied in age from 1 to 8 years since restoration. Abundances of invertebrates were similar across vegetation types, but were higher during autumn. Macroinvertebrate assemblages at revegetated sites (regardless of age) and at willow-dominated sites showed little among-site variation compared with native forest sites, which showed high site-to-site variability. Water temperatures and light intensity were higher at revegetated sites where works had recently been completed and cooler in native forest sites and long-established revegetated sites. The reduced variability in macroinvertebrate communities among revegetated sites may result from their history as willow-dominated sites or from the disturbance created by willow removal. Either way, these results suggest that longer than 8 years is required before macroinvertebrate assemblages in restored stretches of stream show the variation that appears characteristic of natural sites.

Aestivation provides flexible mechanisms for survival of stream drying in a larval trichopteran (Leptoceridae)

Some freshwater species aestivate to resist drying; however, little is known about factors affecting post-aestivation survival. Climate change prolongs drying and may make short bursts of flow more frequent in southern Australian streams, thereby affecting aestivation success. The tolerance of larval Lectrides varians (Mosley) to drying was tested by inducing aestivation in dry or moist sediment and then re-immersing larvae and measuring survival and activity. Survival did not differ between individuals that were continually immersed (78%) or aestivating on moist sediment (70.5%) after 16 weeks. Survival was significantly lower on dry sediment (29.3%). Furthermore, some larvae showed delayed responses to re-immersion; 65% of individuals showed activity within 4.5h, whereas over 30% of larvae did not become active until 72h after re-immersion. L. varians can survive extended periods (112 days) without surface water, showing a bimodal response to re-immersion that increases the likelihood of population persistence by enabling some larvae to remain aestivating during short-lived bursts of stream flow. L. varians populations will therefore be more robust to prolonged stream drying and short-lived flow events than are some other insect taxa, although as the duration of aestivation increases larval survivorship decreases, suggesting that there are limits to the flexibility of aestivation traits.

Habitat architecture and trophic interaction strength in a river: riffle-scale effects

Invertebrate algal grazer densities were manipulated in a temperate river to discover the impact of differences in riffle-scale architectural complexity on the strength of the trophic interaction between grazers and epilithic algae. Animal densities were manipulated by manual removal in architecturally complex boulder-cobble riffles and simpler bedrock riffles, with the complexity of smaller-scale architecture held constant. Responses in algal density were recorded before and after a month of manipulations, together with grazer colonization rate and body sizes. The experiment was carried out in winter and again in summer. The interaction between grazers and algae differed between habitats and seasons. In winter, when algae were growing, the more complex rifflescale architecture in the boulder-cobble riffles created a refuge from grazing for algae. This was probably the result of the movement abilities of the grazers interacting with habitat architecture, and potentially also due to the control of predatory fish densities by habitat architecture resulting in greater predation pressure on grazers in boulder-cobble riffles. Therefore the impact of highly complex riffle-scale architecture was to weaken the strength of the trophic interaction between algae and their grazers by reducing grazer densities, while potentially strengthening the trophic interaction between grazers and their fish predators.

Constraints upon the response of fish and crayfish to environmental flow releases in a regulated headwater stream network

In dry climate zones, headwater streams are often regulated for water extraction causing intermittency in perennial streams and prolonged drying in intermittent streams. Regulation thereby reduces aquatic habitat downstream of weirs that also form barriers to migration by stream fauna. Environmental flow releases may restore streamflow in rivers, but are rarely applied to headwaters. We sampled fish and crayfish in four regulated headwater streams before and after the release of summer-autumn environmental flows, and in four nearby unregulated streams, to determine whether their abundances increased in response to flow releases. Historical data of fish and crayfish occurrence spanning a 30 year period was compared with contemporary data (electrofishing surveys, Victoria Range, Australia; summer 2008 to summer 2010) to assess the longer–term effects of regulation and drought. Although fish were recorded in regulated streams before 1996, they were not recorded in the present study upstream or downstream of weirs despite recent flow releases. Crayfish (Geocharax sp. nov. 1) remained in the regulated streams throughout the study, but did not become more abundant in response to flow releases. In contrast, native fish (Gadopsis marmoratus, Galaxias oliros, Galaxias maculatus) and crayfish remained present in unregulated streams, despite prolonged drought conditions during 2006–2010, and the assemblages of each of these streams remained essentially unchanged over the 30 year period. Flow release volumes may have been too small or have operated for an insufficient time to allow fish to recolonise regulated streams. Barriers to dispersal may also be preventing recolonisation. Indefinite continuation of annual flow releases, that prevent the unnatural cessation of flow caused by weirs, may eventually facilitate upstream movement of fish and crayfish in regulated channels; but other human–made dispersal barriers downstream need to be identified and ameliorated, to allow native fish to fulfil their life cycles in these headwater streams.

Metastability in a river subject to multiple disturbances may constrain restoration options

Metastability may arise in rivers subject to multiple disturbance processes because external constraints to ecosystem change sustain the metastable state; this has important implications for management, especially river restoration. The Glenelg River and its southern Australian landscape have been extensively studied by different researchers across many projects, and several restoration actions implemented across different reaches and spatial scales. Research involving diverse researchers and projects over extended periods shows strengths such as flexibility in pursuing emerging research questions, increased regional capacity by facilitating research training, and the generation of broader perspectives on river management. We conclude that metastability is a likely state for rivers with multiple interacting disturbances in regions with Mediterranean-type climates. In such rivers, disrupted relationships between the physical environment and ecological processes are likely, such that habitat restoration might have limited effectiveness. Restoration practices that constitute a disturbance might also risk disrupting metastability, or their impact may be limited because metastability confers resistance to further disturbance. Restoration may be more effectively targeted at less-disturbed reaches where ecosystems have a greater capacity to respond. Similarly, restoration in disturbed reaches might be more effectively directed at supporting metastability in the face of landscape change, than attempting to restore antecedent conditions.