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Substrate roughness, fish grazers, and mesohabitat type interact to determine algal biomass and sediment accrual in a high-altitude subtropical stream

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Abstract

Since periphytic biofilm is an important source of food in lotic ecosystems, it is important to understand how key ecological factors affect the accrual and loss of algal biomass and sediment in the biofilm. We designed a field experiment to evaluate the effects of mesohabitat type (pools and riffles), grazing fish (control and exclusion), and substrate roughness (smooth and rough) on chlorophyll a, ash-free dry mass (AFDM), and total dry mass in a subtropical stream. Mesohabitat type did not influence the effect of grazers on periphyton. However, rough substrates accumulated more total dry mass in pools than in riffles, while smooth substrates accumulated similar amounts of total dry mass in both mesohabitats. The accrual of AFDM and chlorophyll a was greater on rough than on smooth substrates, regardless of mesohabitat. Treatments without fish accrued more total dry mass, AFDM, and chlorophyll a than treatments with fish, showing that fish play a major role in this stream by removing sediment and algal biomass. These results suggest that habitat simplification in the scale of substrate roughness and loss of large grazers may impact the accrual and loss of algal biomass and sediment in lotic ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ana Pressi, Flávia Montagner, Geraldo Schneck, Marcelo Saraiva, Silvia Milesi, and Marlon Vasconcelos for invaluable field assistance, and to Victor Landeiro for suggestions regarding the construction of electrical fences. Sidinei M. Thomaz, Leandro Duarte, Luciane Crossetti, and two anonymous referees provided useful comments on the manuscript. FS received a student fellowship from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). ASM received research grants (476304/2007-5; 474560/2009-0) and a research fellowship (302482/2008-3) from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).

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  1. Fabiana Schneck

    Present address: Instituto de Pesquisas Hidráulicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP 15029, CEP 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP 15007, CEP 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Fabiana Schneck & Albano Schwarzbold

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, CP 131, CEP 74001-970, Goiânia, GO, Brazil

    Adriano Sanches Melo

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  1. Fabiana Schneck
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Correspondence to Fabiana Schneck.

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Schneck, F., Schwarzbold, A. & Melo, A.S. Substrate roughness, fish grazers, and mesohabitat type interact to determine algal biomass and sediment accrual in a high-altitude subtropical stream. Hydrobiologia 711, 165–173 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1477-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1477-x

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