Abstract
Microhabitat selectivity, resource partitioning, and niche shifts in five species of grazing caddisfly larvae (Glossosoma califica, G. penitum, Dicosmoecus gilvipes, Neophylax rickeri, and N. splendens) were quantified by underwater measurement of microhabitat availability and utilization in three northern California streams. The microhabitat parameters water depth and velocity and rock size, roughness, and slope were measured. Comparisons of habitat available to habitat used revealed significant selection for at least two microhabitat parameters by each population, with depth and velocity being the most important. Comparisons of habitat used by different species showed significant partitioning of at least two microhabitat parameters at each site, with depth being partitioned at all sites. Non-parametric discriminant analysis revealed significant microhabitat partitioning on a multivariate level at two sites. Comparisons of habitat used at different sites quantified a major niche shift by D. gilvipes in its preference for riffles versus pools. Size-selective predation by dippers (Cinclus mexicanus) and steelhead (Salmo gairdneri gairdneri) is proposed as a hypothesis to explain the observed resource partitioning and niche shift.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alstad, D. N., 1981. Nearest-neighbor analysis of microhabitat partitioning in stream insect communities. Hydrobiologia 79: 137–140.
Anderson, N. H., 1967. Biology and downstream drift of some Oregon Trichoptera. Can. Ent. 99: 507–521.
Anderson, N. H. & J. L. Wold, 1972. Emergence trap collections of Trichoptera from an Oregon stream. Can. Ent. 104: 189–201.
Bakus, G. J., 1959. Observations on the life history of the dipper in Montana. Auk 76: 190–207.
Baltz, D. M. & P. B. Moyle, 1984. Segregation by species and size classes of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, and Sacramento sucker, Catostomus occidentalis, in three California streams. Envir. Biol. Fish. 10: 101–110.
Bovee, K. D., J. A. Gore & A. J. Silverman, 1978. Field testing and adaptation of a methodology to measure ‘instream’ values in the Tongue River, Northern Great Plains (NGP) region. U.S.E.P.A., EPA-908/4–78–004A: 465 pp.
Campbell, J. I. & P. S. Meadows, 1972. An analysis of aggregations formed by the caddis fly larva Potamophylax latipennis in its natural habitat. J. Zool., Lond. 167: 133–141.
Culp, J. M., S. J. Walde & R. W. Davies, 1983. Relative importance of substrate particle size and detritus to stream benthic macroinvertebrate microdistribution. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 1568–1574.
Cummins, K. W., 1964. Factors limiting the microdistribution of larvae of the caddisflies Pycnopsyche lepida (Hagen) and Pycnopsyche guttifer (Walker) in a Michigan stream (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae). Ecol. Monogr. 34: 271–295.
Cummins, K. W. & G. H. Lauff, 1969. The influence of substrate particle size on the microdistribution of stream macrobenthos. Hydrobiologia 34: 145–181.
Dueser, R. D. & H. D. Shugart, 1979. Niche pattern in a forest-floor small-mammal fauna. Ecology 60: 108–118.
Edington, J. M., 1968. Habitat preferences in net-spinning caddis larvae with special reference to the influence of water velocity. J. anim. Ecol. 37: 675–692.
Feldmeth, C. R., 1970. The respiratory energetics of two species of stream caddisfly larvae in relation to water flow. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 32: 193–202.
Gore, J. A., 1978. A technique for predicting in-stream flow requirements of benthic macroinvertebrates. Freshwat. Biol. 8: 141–151.
Gore, J. A. & R. D. Judy, Jr, 1981. Predictive models of benthic macroinvertebrate density for use in instream flow studies and regulated flow management. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 38: 1363–1370.
Green, R. H., 1971. A multivariate approach to the Hutchinsonian niche: Bivalve molluscs of central Canada. Ecology 52: 543–556.
Green, R. H., 1974. Multivariate niche analysis with temporally varying environmental factors. Ecology 55: 73–83.
Haddock, J. D., 1977. The effect of stream current velocity on the habitat preference of a net-spinning caddis fly larva, Hydropsyche oslari Banks. Pan-Pacif. Ent. 53: 169–174.
Hart, D. D., 1978. Diversity in stream insects: Regulation by rock size and microspatial complexity. Verh. int. Ver. theor. angew. Limnol. 20: 1376–1381.
Hart, D. D., 1981. Foraging and resource patchiness; field experiments with a grazing stream insect. Oikos 37: 46–52.
Hart, D. D., 1983. The importance of competitive interactions within stream populations and communities. In J. R. Barnes & G. W. Minshall (eds), Stream Ecology: Application and Testing of General Ecological Theory. Plenum Press, N.Y.: 99–136.
Hart, D. D. & V. H. Resh, 1980. Movement patterns and foraging ecology of a stream caddisfly larva. Can. J. Zool. 58: 1174–1185.
Hauer, F. R. & J. A. Stanford, 1982. Bionomics of Dicosmoecus gilvipes (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae) in a large western montane river. Am. Midl. Nat. 108: 81–87.
Hildrew A. G. & J. M. Edington, 1979. Factors facilitating the coexistence of hydropsychid caddis larvae (Trichoptera) in the same river system. J. anim. Ecol. 48: 557–576.
Hynes, H. B. N., 1970. The Ecology of Running Waters. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 555 pp.
Khalaf, G. & H. Tachet, 1980. Colonization of artificial substrata by macro-invertebrates in a stream and variations according to stone size. Freshwat. Biol. 10: 475–482.
Lamberti, G. A. & V. H. Resh, 1979. Substrate relationships, spatial distribution patterns, and sampling variability in a stream caddisfly population. Envir. Ent. 8: 561–567.
Lamberti, G. A. & V. H. Resh, 1983. Stream periphyton and insect herbivores: An experimental study of grazing by a caddisfly population. Ecology 64: 1124–1135.
Lehmkuhl, D. M. & N. H. Anderson, 1972. Microdistribution and density as factors affecting the downstream drift of mayflies. Ecology 53: 661–666.
Linduska, J. P., 1942. Bottom types as a factor influencing the local distribution of mayfly nymphs. Can. Ent. 74: 26–30.
MacKay, R. J. & J. Kalff, 1973. Ecology of two related species of caddis fly larva in the organic substrates of a woodland stream. Ecology 54: 499–511.
McAuliffe, J. R., 1983. Competition, colonization patterns, and disturbance in stream benthic communities. In J. R. Barnes & G. W. Minshall (eds) Stream Ecology: Application and Testing of General Ecological Theory. Plenum Press, N.Y.: 137–156.
McElhone, M. J. & R. W. Davies, 1983. The influence of rock surface area on the microdistribution and sampling of attached riffle dwelling Trichoptera in Hartley Creek, Alberta. Can. J. Zool. 61: 2300–2304.
Minshall, G. W. & J. N. Minshall, 1977. Microdistribution of benthic invertebrates in a Rocky Mountain (U.S.A.) stream. Hydrobiologia 55: 231–249.
Noon, B. R., 1981. The distribution of an avian guild along a temperate elevational gradient: The importance and expression of competition. Ecol. Monogr. 51: 105–124.
Orth, D. J. & O. E. Maughan, 1983. Microhabitat preferences of benthic fauna in a woodland stream. Hydrobiologia 106: 157–168.
Peckarsky, B. L., 1983. Biotic interactions or abiotic limitations? A model of lotic community structure. In T. D. Fontaine III & S. M. Bartell (eds), Dynamics of Lotic Ecosystems. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.: 303–323.
Philipson, G. N., 1954. The effect of water flow and oxygen concentration on six species of caddis fly (Trichoptera) larvae. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 124: 547–564.
Rabeni, C. F. & G. W. Minshall, 1977. Factors affecting microdistribution of stream benthic insects. Oikos 29: 33–43.
Reice, S. R., 1980. The role of substratum in benthic macroinvertebrate microdistribution and litter decomposition in a woodland stream. Ecology 61: 580–590.
Shapovalov, L. & A. C. Taft, 1954. The life histories of the steelhead rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri gaidneri) and silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Calif. Fish. Game 98, 375 pp.
Shaw, G., 1979. Prey selection by breeding dippers. Bird Study 26: 66–67.
Teague, S. A., 1984. Stream microhabitat selectivity, resource partitioning, and niche shifts in grazing caddisfly larvae. M. Sci. Thesis, Univ. Calif., Davis, 62 pp.
Thut, R. N., 1970. Feeding habits of the dipper in southwestern Washington. Condor 72: 234–235.
Toft, C. A., 1985. Resource partitioning in reptiles and amphibians. Copeia 1985, 8: 1–21.
Trush, W. J., Jr., 1979. The effects of area and surface complexity on the structure and formation of stream benthic communities. M. Sci. Thesis, Va Polytech. Inst. & St. Univ., Blackburg, 149 pp.
Ulfstrand, S., 1967. Microdistribution of benthic species (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Diptera: Simulidae) in Lapland streams. Oikos 18: 293–310.
Van Horne, B., 1982. Niches of adult and juvenile deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in seral stages of coniferous forest. Ecology 63: 992–1003.
Wankowski, J. W. J., 1979. Morphological limitations, prey size selectivity, and growth response of juvenile atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. J. Fish Biol. 14: 89–100.
Weaver, J. S., III & J. L., Sykora, 1981. Larval behavior and dispersion of Pycnopsyche luculenta (Betten) demonstrated by a unique tagging method (Limnephilidae: Trichoptera). In G. P. Moretti (ed.), Proc. 3rd int. Symp. Trichoptera, Ser. Ent. Dr. W. Junk b.v. Publishers, The Hague, Neth.: 383–393.
Whitton, B. A., 1975. Algae, In B. A. Whitton (ed.) River Ecology. University of Calif. Press, Berkeley: 81–105.
Wiggins, G. B. & J. S. Richardson, 1982. Revision and synopsis of the caddisfly genus Dicosmoecus (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae; Dicosmoecinae). Aquat. Insects 4: 181–217.
Williams, B. K., 1983. Some observations on the use of discriminant analysis in ecology. Ecology 64: 1283–1291.
Williams, D. D. & J. H. Mundie, 1978. Substrate size selection by stream invertebrates and the influence of sand. Limnol. Oceanogr. 23: 1030–1033.
Williams, D. D., A. T. Read, & K. A. Moore, 1983. The biology and zoogeography of Helicopsche borealis (Trichoptera: Helicopsychidae): a Nearctic representative of a tropical genus. Can. J. Zool. 61: 2288–2299.
Williams, D. D. & N. E. Williams, 1982. Morphological and dietary variations in a riverine population of Pycnopsyche guttifer (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae). Aquat. Insects 4: 21–27.
Williams, N. E. & H. B. N. Hynes, 1973. Microdistribution and feeding of the net-spinning caddisflies (Trichoptera) of a Canadian stream. Oikos. 24: 73–84.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Teague, S.A., Knight, A.W. & Teague, B.N. Stream microhabitat selectivity, resource partitioning, and niche shifts in grazing caddisfly larvae. Hydrobiologia 128, 3–12 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008934
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008934