Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF04244
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(1)

Harshness: characterisation of intermittent stream habitat over space and time

Ken M. Fritz A B C and Walter K. Dodds A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Division of Biology, Ackert Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.

B Present address: USEPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecological Exposure Research Division, Ecosystem Research Branch, 26 W. Martin Luther King, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: fritz.ken@epamail.epa.gov

Marine and Freshwater Research 56(1) 13-23 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF04244
Submitted: 6 September 2004  Accepted: 18 November 2004   Published: 4 February 2005

Abstract

Frequently disturbed environments, such as intermittent streams, are ecologically useful for studying how disturbance characteristics (e.g. frequency, magnitude) affect community structure and succession. We developed a harshness index that quantifies ecologically pertinent spatial and temporal characteristics of prairie intermittent streams that may limit or reduce diversity and abundance to predict benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage characteristics. The index incorporates 11 variables that describe the hydrological regime (e.g. average flow, flow variability, drying and flooding) and distance to perennial surface water. We started with 27 variables, but removed 16 that did not increase the predictive value of the index. The relationships among index values and annual mean macroinvertebrate assemblage characteristics (taxonomic richness, diversity, evenness and abundance) were tested over two years using seven sites that represent a range of flow permanence (recent and historical), flood magnitude (recent and historical) and surface-water connectivity. Mean annual taxonomic richness was significantly related to the harshness index. Evenness and abundance were not related to harshness. Further analyses indicated that distance to the nearest permanent habitat was less important than annual or historical hydrological parameters, even though prior research had documented higher rates of colonisation at sites that were closer to nearest permanent habitat. Both annual factors that can alter abundance and colonisation immediately (e.g. floods, drought in each year) and historical factors (e.g. probability of drying, average length of dry period over decades) may influence assemblage characteristics. Historical factors may influence evolutionary adaptations of invertebrates and may predominate when relative disturbance rates are lower such as in years with less flooding.


Acknowledgments

We thank Dave Wolock (USGS-Lawrence, KS), Dr J. Briggs, P. Challans, M. Evans-White, D. Gudder, Dr J. Pontius and J. Staab for technical assistance; Drs G. Byers, L. Ferrington and B. Foote who kindly provided assistance with dipteran conundrums; two anonymous reviewers; and M. Gangloff, Drs R. Charlton, L. Gray, C. Guy and M. Whiles for reviewing earlier versions of the manuscript. Support for this research was provided by an USNSF grant to the Konza Long Term Ecological Research Program. The Konza Prairie Biological Station is owned by the Nature Conservancy and managed by the Division of Biology at Kansas State University. This is contribution no. 01-307-J from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.


References

Abell D. L. (1984). Benthic invertebrates of some California intermittent streams. In ‘Vernal Pools and Intermittent Streams’. (Eds S. Jain and P. Moyle.) pp. 46–60. (University of California Press, Davis Institute of Ecology: Berkeley, CA.)

Boulton, A. J. (2003). Parallels and contrasts in the effects of drought on stream macroinvertebrate assemblages. Freshwater Biology 48, 1173–1185.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Fritz K. M. (1997). The effects of natural disturbances on lotic fauna of a pristine tallgrass prairie stream. M.Sc. Thesis, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.

Fritz, K. M. , and Dodds, W. K. (2002). Macroinvertebrate assemblage structure across a tallgrass prairie stream landscape. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 154, 79–102.
Gordon N. D., McMahon T. A., and Finlayson B. L. (1992). ‘Stream Hydrology: An Introduction for Ecologists.’ (John Wiley and Sons: New York.)

Gray, L. J. (1989). Emergence production and export of aquatic insects from a tallgrass prairie stream. The Southwestern Naturalist 34, 313–318.
Gray L. J., and Dodds W. K. (1998). Structure and dynamics of aquatic communities. In ‘Grassland Dynamics: Long-term Ecological Research in Tallgrass Prairie’. (Eds A. K. Knapp, J. M. Briggs, D. C. Hartnett and S. L. Collins.) pp. 177–189. (Oxford Press: New York.)

Gray L. J., Macpherson G. L., Koelliker J. K., and Dodds W. K. (1998). Hydrology and aquatic chemistry. In ‘Grassland Dynamics: Long-term Ecological Research in Tallgrass Prairie’. (Eds A. K. Knapp, J. M. Briggs, D. C. Hartnett and S. L. Collins.) pp. 159–176. (Oxford Press: New York.)

Helsel D. R., and Hirsch R. M. (2002). Statistical methods in water resources. In ‘U.S. Geological Survey, Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations Book 4’. Chapter A3. pp. 1–510. (U.S. Geological Survey: Washington, DC.)

Hildrew A. G., and Giller P. S. (1992). Patchiness, species interactions and disturbance in the stream benthos. In ‘Aquatic Ecology: Scale, Pattern and Process’. (Eds P. S. Giller, A. G. Hildrew, and D. G. Raffaelli.) pp. 21–62. (Blackwell Scientific: Oxford, UK.)

Hinton, H. E. (1953). Some adaptations of insects to environments that are alternately dry and flooded, with some notes on the habits of the Stratiomyidae. Transactions of the Society of British Entomology 11, 209–227.
Hynes H. B. N. (1970). ‘The Ecology of Running Waters.’ (Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, UK.)

Illies, J. , and Botosaneanu, L. (1963). Problémes et méthodes de la classification et de la zonation écologique des eaux courantes, considerées surtout du point de vue faunistique. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie 12, 1–57.
Leopold L. B. (1994). ‘A View of the River.’ (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.)

Olden, J. D. , and Poff, N. L. (2003). Redundancy and the choice of hydrologic indices for characterizing streamflow regimes. River Research and Applications 19, 101–121.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Peckarsky B. L. (1983). Biotic interactions or abiotic limitations? A model of lotic community structure. In ‘Dynamics of Lotic Ecosystems’. (Eds T. D. Fontaine and S. M. Bartell.) pp. 303–323. (Ann Arbor Science: Ann Arbor, MI.)

Pennak, R. W. (1971). Toward a classification of lotic habitats. Hydrobiologia 38, 321–334.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | SAS (2001). ‘SAS/STAT Software: Changes and Enhancement.’ (SAS Institute: Cary, NC.)

Scrimgeour, G. J. , Davidson, R. J. , and Davidson, J. M. (1988). Recovery of benthic macroinvertebrate and epilithic communities following a large flood, in an unstable, braided, New Zealand river. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 22, 337–344.
Usinger R. L. (1956). Introduction to aquatic entomology. In ‘Aquatic Insects of California’. (Ed. R. L. Usinger.) pp. 3–49. (University of California Press: Berkeley, CA.)

Uys, M. C. , and O’Keefe, J. H. (1997). Simple words and fuzzy zones: Early directions for temporary river research in South Africa. Environmental Management 21, 517–531.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Williams, D. D. (1996). Environmental constraints in temporary fresh waters and their consequences for the insect fauna. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 15, 634–650.


Williams, D. D. (1998). The role of dormancy in the evolution and structure of temporary water invertebrate communities. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues, Advances in Limnology 52, 109–124.


Williams, W. D. (1985). Biotic adaptations in temporary lentic waters with special reference to those in semi-arid regions. Hydrobiologia 125, 85–110.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |