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Effects of leaf type on the consumption rates of aquatic detritivores

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Abstract

Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and cottonwood (Populus deltoides) leaves were incubated in cages excluding (controls) or containing (experimental) detritivores for periods of up to 123 days. Experimental cages contained either the cranefly larvae Tipula abdominalis, the amphipod Gammarus pseudolimnaeus or the caddisfly Pycnopsyche guttifer. Differences in daily consumption between leaf types and among species were compared.

In control cages 20–23% of initial leaf weight was lost by leaching and 8–10% by microbial processes. T. abdominalis and P. guttifer consumed more silver maple than cottonwood during feeding intervals; no significant differences were observed for G. pseudolimnaeus. Invertebrate consumption of cottonwood leaves significantly increased with time; no significant differences in consumption of silver maple leaves with time were observed. Potential factors influencing the observed feeding pattern between leaf species are discussed.

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  1. G. N. Herbst

    Present address: Department of Zoology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, U.S.A.

    G. N. Herbst

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Herbst, G.N. Effects of leaf type on the consumption rates of aquatic detritivores. Hydrobiologia 89, 77–87 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017540

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