Abstract
There are few studies of the ecology of waterfalls despite their being prominent landscape features and of ecological interest because of their physical characteristics. We compared invertebrate assemblages of 5 waterfalls in the Australian Wet Tropics over 12–18 mo. Waterfall assemblages were distinct from those of riffles and bedrock, with some taxa particularly abundant on waterfalls (e.g. Simuliidae, Hydropsychidae) and others restricted to them (e.g. Blephariceridae, Pyralidae), and supported more species than bedrock but fewer than riffles. Differences among waterfalls related to differences in discharge, shade and habitat complexity. Waterfalls comprised a complex of microhabitat patches, with high-flow smooth, high-flow rough, vertical and spray zones most prevalent and distinguishable by gradient, roughness, water velocity, depth and invertebrate assemblages. In high-flow microhabitats rheophilic taxa (e.g. Simuliidae) were prevalent, while in the spray zone a range of madicolous taxa (e.g. various Coleoptera) occurred. Within microhabitats, temporal change was moderate, with stable composition over 12 months. Flood disturbance had limited effect on assemblages, as large flows overshot steep surfaces; drought may be more of a threat because recovery is hindered by isolation and lack of hyporheic refugia. Given their isolation, limited extent and distinctive fauna, waterfalls merit special conservation attention.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, M. J., R. N. Gorley & K. R. Clarke, 2008. PERMANOVA+ for PRIMER: Guide to Software and Statistical Methods. PRIMER-E, Plymouth.
Australian Government, 2005. A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. Accessed online 2 June 2015 at http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/water/water-our-environment/wetlands/australian-wetlands-database/directory-important#inland.
Benson, L. J. & R. G. Pearson, 1987. Drift and upstream movements of macro-invertebrates in a tropical Australian stream. Hydrobiologia 153: 225–239.
Boon, P. J., 1988. Notes on the distribution and biology of Smicridea (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) in Jamaica. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 111: 423–433.
Bunn, S. E. & J. M. Hughes, 1997. Dispersal and recruitment in streams: evidence from genetic studies. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16: 338–346.
Cheshire, K., L. Boyero & R. G. Pearson, 2005. Food webs in tropical Australian streams: shredders are not scarce. Freshwater Biology 50: 748–769.
Clarke, K. R. & R. N. Gorley, 2006. PRIMER Version 6. User Manual/Tutorial. PRIMER-E Ltd., Plymouth.
Clayton, P.D., 1995. The ecology of waterfalls in the Australian wet tropics. PhD thesis, James Cook University, Australia.
Collier, K. J. & B. J. Smith, 2006. Distinctive invertebrate assemblages in rockface seepages enhance lotic biodiversity in northern New Zealand. Biodiversity and Conservation 15: 3591–3616.
Davis, J. A. & L. A. Barmuta, 1989. An ecologically useful classification of mean and near-bed flows in streams and rivers. Freshwater Biology 21: 271–282.
Dudgeon, D., 1992. Patterns and Processes in Stream Ecology: A Synoptic Review of Hong Kong Running Waters. E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart.
Dudgeon, D., A. H. Arthington, M. O. Gessner, Z.-I. Kawabata, D. J. Knowler, C. Lévêque, R. J. Naiman, A.-H. Prieur-Richard, D. Soto, M. L. J. Stiassny & C. A. Sullivan, 2006. Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges. Biological Reviews 81: 163–182.
Gore, J. A., 1994. Hydrological change. In Calow, P. & G. E. Petts (eds), The Rivers Handbook: Hydrological and Ecological Principles. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London: 33–54.
Harding, J. & M. H. Colbo, 1981. Competition for attachment sites between larvae of Simuliidae (Diptera). The Canadian Entomologist 113: 761–763.
Hawkins, C. P., J. L. Kershner, P. A. Bisson, M. D. Bryant, L. M. Decker, S. V. Gregory, D. D. McCullough, C. K. Overton, G. H. Reeves, R. J. Steedman & M. K. Young, 1993. A hierarchical approach to classifying stream habitat features. Fisheries 18: 3–12.
Hearnden, M. R. & R. G. Pearson, 1991. Habitat partitioning among mayflies (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) in an Australian tropical stream. Oecologia 87: 91–101.
Hemphill, N., 1988. Competition between two stream dwelling filter-feeders, Hydropsyche oslari and Simulium virgatum. Oecologia 77: 73–80.
Hildrew, A. G. & P. S. Giller, 1992. Patchiness, species interactions and disturbance in the stream benthos. In Giller, P. S., A. G. Hildrew & D. G. Raffaelli (eds), Aquatic Ecology: Scale, Pattern and Process. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London: 21–62.
Hora, S. L., 1930. Ecology, bionomics and evolution of the torrential fauna, with special reference to the organs of attachment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 218: 171–282.
Hughes, J. M., S. E. Bunn, D. A. Hurwood, S. Choy & R. G. Pearson, 1996. Genetic differentiation among populations of Caridina zebra (Decapoda: Atyidae) in tropical rainforest streams, northern Australia. Freshwater Biology 36: 289–296.
James, C. S., J. VanDerWal, S. J. Capon, L. Hodgson, N. Waltham, D. P. Ward, B. J. Anderson & R. G. Pearson, 2013. Identifying climate refuges for freshwater biodiversity across Australia. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, 150 pp. ISBN: 978-1-925039-56-6.
Khan, M. S. & S. A. Malik, 1987. Buccopharyngeal morphology of tadpole larva of Rana hazarensis Dubois and Khan 1979, and its torrenticole adaptions. Biologia Gabonica 33: 45–60.
Kjærandsen, J., 2005. Species assemblages and community structure of adult caddisflies along a headwater stream in southeastern Ghana (Insecta: Trichoptera). Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 1–43.
Lake, P. S., 2003. Ecological effects of perturbation by drought in flowing waters. Freshwater Biology 48: 1161–1172.
Lake, P. S., E. S. G. Schreiber, B. J. Milne & R. G. Pearson, 1994. Species richness in streams: patterns over time, with stream size and with latitude. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung fur Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie 25: 1822–1826.
McCune, B. & M.J. Mefford, 2011. PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data. Version 6.20. MjM Software: Gleneden Beach, Oregon, USA.
Northcote, T. G., 1981. Juvenile current response, growth and maturity of above and below waterfall stocks of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri. Journal of Fisheries Biology 18: 741–751.
Palmer, M. A., A. E. Bely & K. E. Berg, 1992. Response of invertebrates to lotic disturbance: a test of the hyporheic refuge hypothesis. Oecologia 89: 182–194.
Pearson, R. G., 2014. Dynamics of invertebrate diversity in a tropical stream. Diversity 6: 771–791.
Pearson, R. G. & N. M. Connolly, 2000. Nutrient enhancement, food quality and community dynamics in a tropical rainforest stream. Freshwater Biology 43: 31–42.
Pearson, R. G., N. M. Connolly & L. Boyero, 2015. Ecology of streams in a biogeographic isolate – the Queensland Wet Tropics, Australia. Freshwater Science 34: 797–819.
Quinn, J. M. & C. W. Hickey, 1994. Hydraulic parameters and benthic invertebrate distributions in two gravel-bed New Zealand rivers. Freshwater Biology 32: 489–500.
Rackemann, S. L., B. J. Robson & T. G. Matthews, 2012. Conservation value of waterfalls as habitat for lotic insects of western Victoria, Australia. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 23: 171–178.
Reice, S. R., R. C. Wissmar & R. J. Naiman, 1990. Disturbance regimes, resilience and recovery of animal communities and habitats in lotic ecosystems. Environmental Management 14: 647–659.
Resh, V. H., A. V. Brown, A. P. Covich, M. E. Gurtz, H. W. Li, W. Minshall, S. R. Reice, A. L. Sheldon, J. B. Wallace & R. C. Wissmar, 1988. The role of disturbance in stream ecology. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 7: 433–455.
Richards, S. J., 1992. The tadpole of the Australian frog Litoria nyakalensis (Anura, Hylidae), and a key to the torrent tadpoles of northern Queensland. Alytes 10: 99–103.
Rosser, Z. & R. G. Pearson, 1995. Responses of rock fauna to physical disturbance in two Australian tropical rainforest streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 14: 183–196.
Schroder, P., 1988. Gut-passage, particle selection and ingestion of filter feeding blackfly (Diptera; Simuliidae) larvae inhabiting a waterfall in Tahiti (French Polynesia). Aquatic Insects 10: 1–16.
Sinclair, B. J., 1988. The madicolous Tipulidae (Diptera) of eastern North America, with descriptions of the biology and immature stages of Dactylolabis montana (Osten Sacken) and D. hudsonica Alexander (Diptera: Tipulidae). The Canadian Entomologist 120: 569–573.
Soulsby, C., A. Pomeroy & C. Gibbins, 1997. Hydrology and hydrochemistry of a montane rainforest catchment in Queensland, Australia. Hydrochemistry: Proceedings of the Rabat Symposium, April 1997. IAHS Publication No. 244: 299–307.
Sousa, W. P., 1984. The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 15: 353–391.
Statzner, B. & B. Higler, 1986. Stream hydraulics as a major determinant of benthic invertebrate zonation patterns. Freshwater Biology 16: 127–139.
Thuesen, P. A., B. J. Pusey, D. R. Peck, R. G. Pearson & B. C. Congdon, 2008. Genetic differentiation over small spatial scales in the absence of physical barriers in an Australian rainforest stream fish. Journal of Fish Biology 72: 1174–1187.
Williams, W. D., 1980. Australian Freshwater Life, 2nd ed. The MacMillan Company of Australia, Melbourne.
Wolda, H., 1988. Insect seasonality: why? Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19: 1–18.
Wolda, H., 1989. Seasonal cues in tropical organisms. Rainfall? Not necessarily! Oecologia 80: 437–442.
Yule, C. M., 1996. Spatial distribution of the invertebrate fauna of an aseasonal tropical stream on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 137: 227–249.
Yule, C. M. & R. G. Pearson, 1996. Aseasonality of benthic invertebrates in a tropical stream on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 137: 95–117.
Zwick, P., 1981. Blephariceridae. Monographiae Biologicae 41: 1183–1193.
Acknowledgments
We thank Scott Cuthbertson, Jane Orr, Geoff Power and Lance Wilkie for assistance in sampling the waterfalls; Ros St Clair, Ian Campbell, John Hawking and Peter Zwick for taxonomic advice; and Dr. C. Colón-Gaud and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Handling editor: Checo Colón-Gaud
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clayton, P.D., Pearson, R.G. Harsh habitats? Waterfalls and their faunal dynamics in tropical Australia. Hydrobiologia 775, 123–137 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2719-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2719-5