Abstract
Two fish species, one top predator (Imparfinis mirini) and one intermediate detritivorous species (Hisonotus depressicauda), were experimentally manipulated to evaluate their relative importance in structuring the periphytic community, as well as their effects on the other trophic levels. An enclosure experiment was conducted in the Potreirinho creek, a second order tributary of Paranapanema River, SE Brazil. Five treatments were used: enclosure of the predator species, enclosure of the detritivorous species, enclosure of both together, exclusion of all fish species (closed control cage), and cage open to all fish community (open control). Through direct and indirect effects, I. mirini, when alone, gave rise to a trophic cascade that resulted in a positive effect on algal resources. Through direct effects, H. depressicauda, when alone, reduced the amount of organic matter, resulting in a positive indirect effect on algae. In addition, when the two species were enclosed together, only the effects determined by the detritivorous species were present. The results indicate the important role of the intermediate detritivorous species in the maintenance of the composition and trophic structure of the analyzed community by reducing the effects caused by the top predator.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
![](https://media.springernature.com/w215h120/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10452-022-09976-4/MediaObjects/10452_2022_9976_Fig1_HTML.png)
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- I:
-
Imparfinis mirini enclosure
- H:
-
Hisonotus depressicauda enclosure
- I+H:
-
enclosure of both species
- CC:
-
exclusion of all fish species (closed control)
- OC:
-
cage open to all fish community (open control)
References
Briand, F. and J.E. Cohen. 1984. Community food webs have scale-invariant structure. Nature 307: 264–266.
Chase, J.M. 2003. Strong and weak trophic cascades along a productivity gradient. Oikos 101: 187–195.
Closs, G.P. and P.S. Lake. 1994. Spatial and temporal variation in the structure of an intermittent-stream food web. Ecol. Monogr. 64: 1–21.
Cohen, J.E., F. Briand and C.M. Newman. 1990. Community Food Webs. Data and Theory. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Culp, J.M. 1986. Experimental evidence that stream macroinverte-brates community structure is unaffected by different densities of coho salmon fry. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 5: 140–149.
Duffy J.E., J.B.J. Cardinale, K.E. France, P.B. McIntyre, E. Thébault and M. Loreau. 2007. The functional role of biodiversity in ecosystems: incorporating trophic complexity. Ecology Letters 10: 522–538.
Esteves, K.E. and P.M. Galetti-Jr. 1995. Food partitioning among some characids of a small Brazilian floodplain lake from the Paraná River basin. Environ. Biol. Fishes 42: 375–389.
Flecker, A.S. 1992. Fish trophic guilds and the structure of a tropical stream: weak direct vs. strong indirect effects. Ecology 73: 927–940.
Flecker, A.S. 1996. Ecosystem engineering by a dominant detritivore in diverse tropical stream. Ecology 77: 1845–1854.
Flecker, A.S. and C.R. Townsend. 1994. Community-wide consequences of trout introduction in New Zealand streams. Ecol. Applic. 4: 798–807.
Forrester, G.E., T.L. Dudley, and H.B. Grimm. 1999. Trophic interactions in open systems: effects of predators and nutrients on stream food chains. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 1187–1197.
Gilliam, J.F., D.F. Fraser and A.M. Sabat. 1989. Strong effects of foraging minnows on a stream benthic invertebrate community. Ecology 70: 445–452.
Golterman, H. L., R.S. Clymo and M.A.M. Ohnstad. 1978. Methods for Physical and Chemical Analysis of Freshwater. Blackwell, Oxford.
Havens, K.E., L.A. Bull, G.L. Warren, T.L. Crisman, E.J. Phlips and J.P. Smith. 1996. Food web structure in a subtropical lake ecosystem. Oikos 75: 20–32.
Hyslop, E.J. 1980. Stomach contents analysis – a review of methods and their application. J. Fish. Biol. 17: 411–429.
Konishi, M., S. Nakano and T. Iwata. 2001. Trophic cascading effects of predatory fish on leaf litter processing in a Japanese stream. Ecol. Res. 16: 415–422.
Krebs, C.J. 1999. Ecological Methodology. Menlo Park, California, USA.
Lamberti, G.A. 1996. The role of periphyton in benthic food webs. In: R.J. Stevenson, M.L. Bothwell and R.L. Lowe (eds.), Algal Ecology Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems. Academic Press, San Diego. pp. 533–572.
Lopretto, E.C. and G. Tell. 1995. Ecosistemas de aguas continentales. Metodologias para su estudio. Ediciones Sur, Argentina.
March, J. and C. Pringle, 2003. Food web structure and basal resource utilization along a tropical island stream continuum, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 35:84–93.
Martinez, N.D. 1991. Artifacts or attributes? Effects of resolution on the Little Rock Lake food web. Ecol. Monogr. 61: 367–392.
McPeek, M.A. 1998. The consequences of changing the top predator in a food web: a comparative experimental approach. Ecol. Monogr. 68: 1–23.
Menge, B.A. 1995. Indirect effects in marine rocky intertidal interaction webs: patterns and importance. Ecol. Monogr. 65: 21–74.
Motta, R.L. and V.S. Uieda. 2002. Modelo de gaiola telada para biomanipulação experimental em riachos de fundo arenoso-lo-doso. Acta Limnol. Bras. 14: 23–33.
Motta, R.L. and V.S. Uieda. 2004a. Diet and trophic groups of an aquatic insect community in a tropical stream. Braz. J. Biol. 64: 809–817.
Motta, R.L. and V.S. Uieda. 2004b. Hábito alimentar de duas espécies de peixes do Ribeirão do Atalho, Itatinga, SP. Rev. Brasil. Zoociências, 6: 191–205.
Motta, R.L. and V.S. Uieda. 2005. Food web structure in a tropical stream ecosystem. Austral Ecol. 30: 58–73.
Nakano, S., H. Miyasaka and N. Kuhara. 1999. Terrestrial-aquatic linkages: riparian arthropod inputs alter trophic cascades in a stream food web. Ecology 80: 2435–2441.
Nyström, P., C. Brönmark and W. Granéli. 1996. Patterns in benthic food webs: a role for omnivorous crayfish? Freshwater Biol. 36:631–646.
Pace, M.L. 1998. Trophic cascades and compensation: differential responses of microzooplankton in role-lake experiments. Ecology 79: 138–152.
Peckarshy, B. L. and M.A. Penton. 1990. Effects of enclosures on stream microhabitat and invertebrate community structure. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 9: 249–261.
Persson, L. 1999. Trophic cascade: abiding heterogeneity and trophic level concept at the end of the road. Oikos 85: 385–397.
Pimm, S. L., J.H. Lawton and J.E. Cohen. 1991. Food web patterns and their consequences. Nature 350: 669–674.
Polis, G.A. and D.R. Strong. 1996. Food web complexity and community dynamics. Am. Nat. 147: 813–846.
Polis, G.A. 1999. Why are parts of the word green? Multiple factors control productivity and the distribution of biomass. Oikos 86: 3–15.
Power, M.E. 1990. Effects of fish in river food webs. Science 250: 811–814.
Pringle, C.M. and G.A. Blake. 1994. Quantitative effects of Atyid shrimp (Decapoda: Atyidae) on the depositional environment in a tropical stream: use of electricity for experimental exclusion. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 51: 1443–1450.
Pringle, C.M., G.A. Blake, A.P. Covich, K.M. Buzby and A. Finley. 1993. Effects of omnivorous shrimp in a montane tropical stream: sediment removal, disturbance of sessile invertebrates and enhancement of understory algal biomass. Oecologia 93: 1–11.
Ranvestel, A.W., K.R. Lips, C.M. Pringle, M.R. Whiles and R.J. Bixby. 2004. Neotropical tadpoles influence stream benthos: evidence for the ecological consequences of decline in amphibian populations. Freshwater Biol. 49: 274–285.
Reis, R.E., S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris Jr. 2003. Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Schmid-Araya, J.M. and P.E. Schmid. 2000. Trophic relationships: integrating meiofauna into a realistic benthic food web. Freshwater Biol. 44: 149–163.
Schmid-Araya, J.M., P.E. Schmid, A. Robertson, J. Winterbottom, C. Gjerlov and A.G. Hildrew. 2002. Connectance in stream food webs. J. Anim. Ecol. 71: 1056–1062.
Shurin, J.B., E.T. Borer, E.W. Seabloom, K. Anderson, C.A. Blanchette, B. Broitman, S.D. Cooper and B.S. Halpern. 2002. A cross-ecosystem comparison of the strength of trophic cascades. Ecol. Letters 5: 785–791.
Sokal, R.R. and F.J. Rohlf. 1995. Biometry: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research. Freeman, New York.
Sprules, W. G. and J. E. Bowerman. 1988. Omnivory and food chain length in zooplankton food web. Ecology 69: 418–426.
Stelzer, R.S. and G.A. Lamberti. 1999. Independent and interactive effects of crayfish and darters on a stream benthic community. J. North Am. Benthol. Soc. 18: 524–532.
Strong, D.R. 1992. Are trophic cascades all wet? Differentiation and donor-control in species ecosystem. Ecology 73: 747–754.
Systat 7.0 for Windows. 1997. Statistics. SPSS, Chicago.
Tavares-Cromar, A.F. and D. Williams. 1996. The importance of temporal resolution in food web analysis: evidence from a detritus-based stream. Ecol. Monogr. 66: 91–113.
Taylor, B.W., A.R. McIntosh and B.L. Peckarsky. 2002. Reach-scale manipulations show invertebrate grazers depress algal resources in streams. Limnol. Oceanogr. 47: 893–899.
Thompson, R.M. and C.R. Townsend. 2000. Is resolution the solution?: the effect of taxonomic resolution on the calculated properties of three stream food webs. Freshwater Biol. 44: 149–163.
Thorp, J.H. 1986. Two distinct roles for predators in freshwater assemblages. Oikos 47: 75–82.
Trivino-Strixino, S. and G. Strixino. 1994. Larvas de Chironomidae (Diptera) do Estado de São Paulo. Guia de identificação e diagnose de gêneros. PPG-ERN/UFSCAR, São Carlos.
Trussell C. G., P. J. Ewanchuk, M. D. Bertness and B. R. Silliman. 2004. Trophic cascades in rocky shore tide pools: distinguishing lethal and nonlethal effects. Oecologia 139: 427–432.
Trussell C. G., P. J. Ewanchuk, C. M. Matassa. 2006. The fear of being eaten reduces energy transfer in asimple food chain. Ecology 87: 2979–2984.
Uieda, V.S. 1999. Experimentos de manipulação de organismos aquáticos emriachos. In: M.L.M. Pômpeo (ed.), Perspectivas da Limnologia no Brasil. Gráfica e Editora União, São Luís. pp. 169–179.
Werner E.E., and P. Peacor. 2003. A review of trait-mediated indirect interactions in ecological communities. Ecology 84:1083–1100.
Woodward, G. and A.G. Hildew. 2001. Invasion of stream food web by a new top predator. J. Anim. Ecol. 70: 273–278.
Woodward, G. and A.G. Hildrew. 2002. Food web structure in riverine landscapes. Freshwater Biol. 47: 777–798.
Wootton, J. T. 1994. Predicting direct and indirect effects: an integrated approach using experiments and path analysis. Ecology 75:151–165.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Motta, R.L., Uieda, V.S. Independent and interactive effects of a top and an intermediate fish species on the food web structure of a tropical stream. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 9, 73–82 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.9.2008.1.9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.9.2008.1.9
Keywords
- Experimental manipulation
- Indirect effects
- Macroinvertebrates
- Predation
- Strong effects
- Trophic cascade
- Trophic levels