Skip to main content
Log in

Shading effects of free-floating plants on drainage-ditch invertebrates

  • Special Feature
  • Freshwater biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes
  • Published:
Limnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In small, lentic ecosystems in agricultural areas, eutrophication often results in excessive growth of small, free-floating plants. A dense layer of plants on the water surface changes the underwater light climate drastically and in turn leads to hypoxic or even anoxic conditions. Knowledge of the effects on macroinvertebrates of reduced light conditions and oxygen stress as result of eutrophication is limited. We thus examined in a field situation the influence of an unpredictable, 10-day period of low oxygen availability as a result of poor underwater light conditions. In a before–after control–impact design, the underwater light climate and dissolved oxygen concentration of ditch sections were manipulated, and the macroinvertebrate assemblage composition was recorded during the 4 weeks before and after treatment. A poor underwater light climate in combination with normoxic conditions did not affect the invertebrate assemblage composition, but the combination of low-light intensity and anoxic conditions did alter it. Interestingly, these changes were not apparent directly after treatment but developed in the weeks following, indicating that although the invertebrates could cope with a shading-induced period of hypoxia, costs were associated with the event over a longer time period.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baker RL, Ball SL (1995) Microhabitat selection by larval Chironomus tentans (Diptera: Chironomidae): effects of predators, food, cover and light. Freshw Biol 34:101–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Best EPH, Schaaf S, Oomes MJM (1995) Responses of restored grassland ditch vegetation to hydrological changes, 1989–1992. Plant Ecol 116:107–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjelke U (2005) Processing of leaf matter by lake-dwelling shredders at low oxygen concentrations. Hydrobiologia 539:93–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonada N, Prat N, Resh VH, Statzner B (2006) Developments in aquatic insect biomonitoring: a comparative analysis of recent approaches. Annu Rev Entomol 51:495–523

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cao Y, Larsen DP, Thorne RS (2001) Species in multivariate analysis for bioassessment: some considerations. J N Am Benthol Soc 20:144–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caraco N, Cole J, Findlay S, Wigand C (2006) Vascular plants as engineers of oxygen in aquatic systems. Bioscience 56:219–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman LJ, Schneider KR, Apodaca C, Chapman CA (2004) Respiration ecology of macroinvertebrates in a swamp-river system of east Africa. Biotropica 36:572–585

    Google Scholar 

  • Chevenet F, Dolédec S, Chessel D (1994) A fuzzy coding approach for the analysis of long-term ecological data. Freshw Biol 31:295–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke RT, Murphy JF (2006) Effects of locally rare taxa on the precision and sensitivity of RIVPACS bioassessment of freshwaters. Freshw Biol 51:1924–1940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connolly NM, Crossland MR, Pearson RG (2004) Effect of low dissolved oxygen on survival, emergence, and drift of tropical stream macroinvertebrates. J N Am Benthol Soc 23:251–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies RW, Monita DMA, Dratnal E, Linton LR (1992) The effects of different dissolved oxygen regimes on the growth of a freshwater leech. Ecography 15:190–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Tezanos Pinto P, Allende L, O’Farrell I (2007) Influence of free-floating plants on the structure of a natural phytoplankton assemblage: an experimental approach. J Plankton Res 29:47–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Zwaan A, Mohamed AM, Geraerts WPM (1975) Glycogen degradation and the accumulation of compounds during anaerobiosis in the fresh water snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Neth J Zool 26:549–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diehl S (1988) Foraging efficiency of three freshwater fishes: effects of structural complexity and light. Oikos 53:207–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downing-Kunz M, Stacey M (2011) Flow-induced forces on free-floating macrophytes. Hydrobiologia 671:121–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen CH, Resh VH, Balling SS, Lamberti GA (1984) Aquatic insect respiration. In: Merritt RW, Cummins KW (eds) An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America, 2nd edn. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, pp 27–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Ficke AD, Myrick CA, Hansen LJ (2007) Potential impacts of global climate change on freshwater fisheries. Rev Fish Biol Fisher 17:581–613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Colwell RK (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol Lett 4:379–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinis F (1993) Oxygen as a factor controlling occurrence and distribution of chironomid larvae. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam

  • Hoback WW, Barnhart MC (1996) Limits and sublethal effects of hypoxia on the amphipod Gammarus pseudolimnaeus. J N Am Benthol Soc 15:117–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoback WW, Stanley DW (2001) Insects in hypoxia. J Insect Physiol 47:533–542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Irving EC, Liber K, Culp JM (2004) Lethal and sublethal effects of low dissolved oxygen condition on two aquatic invertebrates, Chironomus tentans and Hyalella azteca. Environ Toxicol Chem 23:1561–1566

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janes RA, Eaton JW, Hardwick K (1996) The effects of floating mats of Azolla filiculoides Lam. and Lemna minuta Kunth on the growth of submerged macrophytes. Hydrobiologia 340:23–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janse JH, Van Puijenbroek PJTM (1998) Effects of eutrophication in drainage ditches. Environ Pollut 102:547–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kersting K, Kouwenhoven P (1989) Annual and diel oxygen regime in two polder ditches. Aquat Ecol 23:111–123

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kolar CS, Rahel FJ (1993) Interaction of a biotic factor (predator presence) and an abiotic factor (low oxygen) as an influence on benthic invertebrate communities. Oecologia 95:210–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mallin MA, Johnson VL, Ensign SH, MacPherson TA (2006) Factors contributing to hypoxia in rivers, lakes, and streams. Limnol Oceanogr 51:690–701

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maltby L (1995) Sensitivity of the crustaceans Gammarus pulex (L.) and Asellus aquaticus (L.) to short-term exposure to hypoxia and unionized ammonia: observations and possible mechanisms. Water Res 29:781–787

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Milne IS, Calow P (1990) Costs and benefits of brooding in Glossiphoniid leeches with special reference to hypoxia as a selection pressure. J Anim Ecol 59:41–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moog O (1995) Fauna Aquatica Austriaca. Katalog zur autökologischen Einstufung aquatischer Organismen Österreichs. Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft, Wasserwirtschaftskataster, Wien

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore WG, Burn A (1968) Lethal oxygen thresholds for certain temporary pond invertebrates and their applicability to field situations. Ecology 49:349–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris PF, Barker WG (1977) Oxygen transport rates through mats of Lemna minor and Wolffia sp. and oxygen tension within and below the mat. Can J Bot 55:1926–1932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagell B (1977) Phototactic and thermotactic responses facilitating survival of Cloeon dipterum (Ephemeroptera) larvae under winter anoxia. Oikos 29:342–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nebeker AV, Dominguez SE, Chapman GA, Onjukka ST, Stevens DG (1992) Effects of low dissolved oxygen on survival, growth, and reproduction of Daphnia, Hylalella, and Gammarus. Environ Toxicol Chem 11:373–379

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peeters ETHM (2005) Ditch maintenance and biodiversity of macrophytes in the Netherlands. Verhandlungen Internationale Vereinigung für Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie 29:185–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Peeters ETHM, Van Zuidam JP, Van Zuidam BG, Van Nes EH, Kosten S, Heuts PGM, Roijackers RMM, Netten JJC, Scheffer M (2013) Changing weather conditions and floating plants in temperate drainage ditches. J Appl Ecol. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12066

    Google Scholar 

  • Pohle B, Hamburger K (2005) Respiratory adaptations to oxygen lack in three species of Glossiphoniidae (Hirudinea) in Lake Esrom, Denmark. Limnologica 35:78–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portielje R, Rooijackers RMM (1995) Primary succession of aquatic macrophytes in experimental ditches in relation to nutrient input. Aquat Bot 50:127–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schloss AL, Haney JF (2006) Clouds, shadows or twilight? Mayfly nymphs recognise the difference. Freshw Biol 51:1079–1089

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt-Kloiber A, Nijboer RC (2004) The effect of taxonomic resolution on the assessment of ecological water quality classes. Hydrobiologia 516:269–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharitz RR, Batzer DP (1999) An introduction to freshwater wetlands in North America and their invertebrate fauna. In: Batzer DP, Rader RB, Wissinger SA (eds) Invertebrates in freshwater wetlands of North America: ecology and management. Wiley, New York, pp 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigee DC (2005) Freshwater microbiology: biodiversity and dynamic interactions of microorganisms in the aquatic environment. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Steward-Oaten A, Murdoch WW, Parker KP (1986) Environmental impact assessment: ‘pseudoreplication’ in time? Ecology 67:929–940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tachet H, Bournaud M, Richoux P, Usseglio-Polatera P (2000) Invertébrés d’eau douce: systématique, biologie, écologie. CNRS Editions, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P (2002) CANOCO reference manual and CanoDraw for Windows User’s guide: software for Canonical Community Ordination (version 4.5). Microcomputer Power, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1992) Beyond BACI: the detection of environmental impacts on populations in the real, but variable, world. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 161:145–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Brink PJ, Ter Braak CJF (1999) Principal response curves: analysis of time-dependent multivariate responses of biological community to stress. Environ Toxicol Chem 18:138–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson AM, Ormerod SJ (2004) The micro-distribution of three uncommon gastropods in the drainage ditches of British grazing marshes. Aquat Conserv 14:221–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams DD (1996) Environmental constraints in temporary fresh waters and their consequences for the insect fauna. J N Am Benthol Soc 15:634–650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter A, Ciborowski JJH, Reynoldson TB (1996) Effects of chronic hypoxia and reduced temperature on survival and growth of burrowing mayflies, (Hexagenia limbata) (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53:1565–1571

    Google Scholar 

  • Wissel B, Boeing WJ, Ramcharan CW (2003) Effects of water color on predation regimes and zooplankton assemblages in freshwater lakes. Limnol Oceanogr 48:1965–1976

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Martin van den Hoorn, Agata van Oosten-Siedlecka, Dennis Waasdorp, and Dorine Dekkers for their help in the field and sorting of macroinvertebrate samples. This study was funded by REFRESH nr. EU FP7 collaborative project “Adaptive Strategies to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change on European Freshwater Ecosystems” (REFRESH, grant agreement 244121, 2010-2014). Furthermore, it was part of the Ecological Research Dutch Ditches (PLONS) Project, funded by the Foundation of Applied Water Research (STOWA), and was supported financially by the strategic research program “Sustainable spatial development of ecosystems, landscapes, seas and regions,” funded by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Food Quality and carried out by Wageningen University and Research Centre (KB-01-002-007-ALT).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralf C. M. Verdonschot.

Additional information

Handling Editor: Junjiro N. Negishi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Verdonschot, R.C.M., Verdonschot, P.F.M. Shading effects of free-floating plants on drainage-ditch invertebrates. Limnology 15, 225–235 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-013-0416-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-013-0416-x

Keywords

Navigation