Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Flow intermittence controls leaf litter breakdown in a French temporary alluvial river: the “drying memory”

  • Recent Perspectives on Temporary River Ecology
  • Published:
Aquatic Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The inputs and breakdown of terrestrial leaf litter in streams is a fundamental ecological process that sustains in-stream foodwebs and secondary production. In temporary rivers, litter breakdown is reduced during dry phases, but the long-term effect of alternating drying and wetting cycles on litter breakdown is still poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that leaf litter breakdown (LLB) in temporary rivers is primarily controlled by flow permanence (the number of flowing days over a given period expressed in %), and that drying events affect LLB during leaf fall periods through reduction of microbial activity and the modification of aquatic invertebrate assemblages. LLB rates (k), microbial activity and invertebrate assemblages were determined in winter at ten cross-sections scattered along a flow permanence gradient on the temporary Albarine River, France. Results demonstrated that summer drying events affected the breakdown process for up to 6 months after flow has resumed in the river. LLB rates decreased exponentially with decreasing flow permanence, and with increasing drying event duration and frequency. These exponential relationships were observed for flow permanence variables calculated for the river for both 24-years and 1-year time periods prior to the experiment. A decrease in flow permanence from 100 to 85% led to a four-fold decrease in leaf litter breakdown rate. Microbial activity, which typically did not differ between cross-sections, failed to explain the between-cross-section differences in k. By contrast, invertebrate assemblages and, shredders, in particular, decreased exponentially with decreasing flow permanence and with increasing drying event duration and frequency.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abelho M (2001) From litter fall to breakdown in stream: a review. The Scientific World 1:658–680

    Google Scholar 

  • Amalfitano S, Fazi S, Zoppini A, Barra-Caracciolo A, Grenni P, Puddu A (2008) Responses of benthic bacteria to experimental drying in sediments from Mediterranean temporary rivers. Microb Ecol 55:270–279

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aon MA, Colaneri AC (2001) Temporal and spatial evolution of enzymatic activities and physico-chemical properties in an agricultural soil. Appl Soil Ecol 18:255–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arscott DB, Larned S, Scarsbrook MR, Lambert P (2010) Aquatic invertebrate community structure along an intermittence gradient: Selwyn River, New Zealand. J North Am Benthol Soc 29:530–545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin AT, Vivanco L (2006) Plant litter decomposition in a semi-arid ecosystem controlled by photodegradation. Nature 442:555–558

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin DS, Mitchell AM (2000) Effects of drying and re-flooding on the sediment/soil nutrient-dynamics of lowland river floodplain systems. A synthesis. Reg Rivers Res Manage 16:457–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bärlocher F (1998) Pitfalls of traditional techniques when studying decomposition in aquatic habitats. Limnetica 13:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Bärlocher F, Mackay RJ, Wiggins GB (1978) Detritus processing in a temporary vernal pool in southern Ontario. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 81:269–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulton AJ (1991) Eucalypt leaf decomposition in an intermittent stream in south-eastern Australia. Hydrobiologia 211:123–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Claret C, Boulton AJ (2003) Diel variation in surface and subsurface microbial activity along a gradient of drying in an Australian sand-bed stream. Freshw Biol 48:1739–1755

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Collins SL, Sinsabaugh RL, Crenshaw C, Green L, Porras-Alfaro A, Stursova M, Zeglin LH (2008) Pulse dynamics and microbial processes in arid land ecosystems. J Ecol 96:413–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corti R, Datry T, Drummond L, Larned ST (2011) Natural variation in immersion and emersion affects breakdown and invertebrate colonisation of leaf litter in a temporary river. Aquat Sci (this issue)

  • Cummins KW (2002) Riparian—stream linkage paradigm. Verhandlungen der internationale Vereinigung für theoritische und angewandte Limnologie 28:49–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Datry T, Larned ST (2008) River flow controls ecological processes and invertebrate assemblages in subsurface flowpaths of an ephemeral river reach. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 65:1532–1544

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Datry T, Larned ST, Scarsbrook MR (2007) Responses of hyporheic invertebrate assemblages to large-scale variation in flow permanence and surface-subsurface exchange. Freshw Biol 52:1452–1462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasith A, Resh VH (1999) Streams in mediterranean climate regions: abiotic influences and biotic responses to predictable seasonal events. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 30:51–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gessner MO, Chauvet E (1994) Importance of stream microfungi in controlling breakdown rates of leaf litter. Ecology 75:1807–1817

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillian A, Duncan H (2001) Development of a sensitive and rapid method for the measurement of total microbial activity using fluorescein diacetate (FDA) in a range of soils. Soil Biol Biochem 33:943–951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gulis V, Suberkropp K (2003) Leaf litter decomposition and microbial activity in nutrient enriched and unaltered reaches of a headwater stream. Freshw Biol 48:123–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbst G, Reice SR (1982) Comparative leaf litter decomposition in temporary and permanent streams in semi-arid regions of Israel. J Arid Environ 5:305–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Hieber M, Gessner MO (2002) Contribution of stream detrivores, fungi, and bacteria to leaf breakdown based on biomass estimates. Ecology 83:1026–1038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hietz P (1984) Decomposition and nutrient dynamics of reed Phragmites australis litter in Lake Neu-siedl, Austria. Aquat Bot 43:211–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imberger S, Walsh CJ, Grace MR (2008) More microbial activity, not abrasive flow or shredder abundance, accelerates breakdown of labile leaf litter in urban streams. J North Am Benthol Soc 27:549–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby JM, Webster JR, Benfield EF (1983) The role of shredders in detrital dynamics of permanent and temporary streams. In: Fontaine TD, Bartell SM (eds) Dynamics of lotic ecosystems. Ann Arbor Press, Ann Arbor, pp 425–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Langhans SD, Tockner K (2006) The role of timing, duration, and frequency of inundation in controlling leaf-litter and in a river-floodplain ecosystem (Tagliamento, NE Italy). Oecologia 147:501–509

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Larned ST, Datry T, Robinson CT (2007) Invertebrate and microbial responses to inundation in an ephemeral river: effects of preceding dry periods. Aquat Sci 69:554–567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larned ST, Datry T, Arscott DB, Tockner K (2010a) Emerging concepts in temporary-river ecology. Freshw Biol 55:717–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larned ST, Schmidt J, Datry T, Konrad CP, Dumas JK, Diettrich JC (2010b) Longitudinal river ecohydrology: flow variation down the lengths of alluvial rivers. Ecohydrology 2. doi:10.1002/eco.126

  • Lecerf A, Risnoveanu G, Popescu C, Gessner MO, Chauvet E (2007) Decomposition of diverse litter mixtures in streams. Ecology 88:219–227

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maamri A, Chergui H, Pattee E (1997) Leaf litter processing in a temporary northeastern Moroccan river. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 140:513–531

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre RES, Adams MA, Ford DJ, Grierson PF (2009) Rewetting and litter addition influence mineralisation and microbial communities in soils from a semi-arid intermittent stream. Soil Biol Biochem 41:92–101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller AM, Golladay SW (1996) Effects of spates and drying on macroinvertebrate assemblages of an intermittent and a perennial prairie streams. J North Am Benthol Soc 15:670–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minshall GW, Petersen RC, Bott TL, Sedell JR, Cushing CE, Vannote RL (1983) Interbiome comparison of stream ecosystem dynamics. Ecol Monogr 53:1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadeau TL, Rains MC (2007) Hydrological connectivity of headwaters to downstream waters: introduction to the featured collection. J Am Water Resour Assoc 43:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinna M, Basset A (2004) Summer drought disturbance on plant detritus decomposition processes in three River Tirso (Sardinia, Italy) sub-basins. Hydrobiologia 522:311–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rupp DE, Larned ST, Arscott DB, Schmidt J (2008) Reconstruction of a daily flow record along a hydrologically complex alluvial river. J Hydrol 359:88–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryder DS, Horwitz R (1995) Seasonal water regimes and leaf litter processing in a wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia. Mar Freshw Res 46:1077–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SIABVA (2000) Captage AEP de l’Albarine. Etude hydrogéologique et sanitaire préalable à la définition des périmètres de protection. Rapport d’étude GEO+, 99M45.007. 53 pp

  • Strange EM, Fausch KD, Covich AP (1999) Sustaining ecosystem services in human-dominated watersheds: biohydrology and ecosystem processes in the South Platte River basin. Environ Manage 24:39–54

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stubberfield LCF, Shaw JA (1990) A comparison of tetrazolium reduction and FDA hydrolysis with other measures of microbial activity. J Microbiol Methods 12:151–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stubbington R, Wood PJ, Boulton AJ (2009) Low flow controls on benthic and hyporheic macroinvertebrate assemblages during supra-seasonal drought. Hydrol Process 23:2252–2263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tachet H, Richoux P, Bournaud M, Usseglio-Polatera P (2000) Invertébrés d’Eau Douce. Systématique, biologie, écologie. CNRS éditions, Paris. 587 pp

  • Tate CM, Gurtz ME (1986) Comparison of mass loss, nutrients, and invertebrates associated with elm leaf litter decomposition in perennial and intermittent reaches of Tallgrass Prairie streams. Southwest Nat 31(4):511–520

    Google Scholar 

  • Tooth S (2000) Process, form and change in dryland rivers: a review of recent research. Earth Sci Rev 51:67–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verardo DJ, Froelish PN, McIntyre A (1990) Determination of organic carbon and nitrogen in marine sediments using the Carlo Erba NA-1500 analyzer. Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers

  • Webster JR, Benfield EF, Ehrman TP, Schaeffer MA, Tank JL, Hutchens JJ, D’Angelo DJ (1999) What happens to allochtonous material that falls into streams? A synthesis of new and published information from Coweeta. Freshw Biol 41:687–705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams DD (2006) The biology of temporary waters, 1st edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 337

    Google Scholar 

  • Young R, Matthaei CD, Townsend CR (2008) Organic matter breakdown and ecosystem metabolism: functional indicators for assessing river ecosystem health. J North Am Benthol Soc 3:605–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1996) Biostatistical analysis, 3rd edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, p 662

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank F. Mermillod-Blondin and his family for Alder leave collection, E. Bultel for assistance with fieldwork, H. Pella for assistance with map drawing, and G. Le Goff for help in sample processing and invertebrate identification. We also thank P. Hancock, N. Lamouroux, F. Mermillod-Blondin, T. Snelder and two anonymous reviewers for comments and meticulous editing, which improved the final version of this paper. This project was funded by the Rhône-Mediterranée-Corse Water Agency.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Groupement de Lyon, Biologie des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, CEMAGREF, UR-MALY, 3 bis quai Chauveau, 69336, Lyon Cedex 09, France

    Thibault Datry, R. Corti & M. Philippe

  2. Institut Méditerranéen d’Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (IMEP, UMR-CNRS-IRD 6116), Case 441, Université Paul-Cézanne Aix-Marseille 3, 13397, Marseille cedex 20, France

    C. Claret

Authors
  1. Thibault Datry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Corti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. Claret
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Philippe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thibault Datry.

Additional information

This article belongs to the Special Issue “Recent Perspectives on Temporary River Ecology”.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Datry, T., Corti, R., Claret, C. et al. Flow intermittence controls leaf litter breakdown in a French temporary alluvial river: the “drying memory”. Aquat Sci 73, 471–483 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-011-0193-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-011-0193-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation