Contribution of aquatic shredders to leaf litter decomposition in Atlantic island streams depends on shredder density and litter quality
Pedro Miguel Raposeiro A C , Verónica Ferreira B , Guillermo Gea A and Vítor Gonçalves A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO), InBIO Laboratório Associado, Pólo dos Açores, Universidade dos Açores, Rua Mãe de Deus 13 A, PT-9501-855 Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal.
B Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Largo Marquês de Pombal, PT-3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal.
C Corresponding author. Email: pedro.mv.raposeiro@uac.pt
Marine and Freshwater Research 69(9) 1432-1439 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18020
Submitted: 17 January 2018 Accepted: 20 February 2018 Published: 4 June 2018
Abstract
It has been widely reported that shredders play an important role in leaf decomposition, especially in continental temperate streams. However, the paucity of shredders in many oceanic island streams leads to a greater contribution of microbes to litter decomposition in these streams. In this study, we investigated the importance of shredder presence and density (three levels) and leaf litter identity (Alnus glutinosa, Clethra arborea and Acacia melanoxylon) on leaf litter decomposition in one stream located in the Azores Archipelago. Coarse and fine mesh bags were used to allow natural colonisation of leaf litter by benthic macroinvertebrates or to exclude macroinvertebrates respectively. Treatments with one and three shredders were accomplished by enclosing one or three shredders in the fine mesh bags. Rates of litter decomposition differed significantly among shredder density treatments only for A. glutinosa and C. arborea. Decomposition rates were significantly faster for the natural within-stream shredder density treatment than for other shredder treatments. Shredder density differed significantly among litter species, being higher in A. glutinosa than in C. arborea and A. melanoxylon. The results indicate that when shredders are present at high densities in oceanic island streams they can substantially contribute to the decomposition of high-quality leaf litter, whereas the decomposition of hard leaf litter is mostly performed by the microbial community.
Additional keywords: Azores Archipelago, Limnephilus atlanticus, litter processing, macroinvertebrates, oceanic island streams.
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