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Habitat structural complexity mediates food web dynamics in a freshwater macrophyte community

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Abstract

A considerable amount of research has investigated the influence of habitat structure on predator success, yet few studies have explored the implications for community structure and food-web dynamics. The relative importance of macrophyte structure and fish predation on the composition of the macroinvertebrate and periphyton communities in a lowland river was investigated using a multifactorial caging experiment. We hypothesised that: (1) fish predators are less effective in a more structurally complex macrophyte analogue; (2) strong direct and indirect effects of fish predators (e.g. trophic cascades) are less likely to occur in a structurally complex habitat; and (3) the strength of these patterns is influenced by the composition of the prevailing community assemblage. We measured the abundance and composition of the macroinvertebrate and periphyton communities associated with three different-shaped macrophyte analogues, under different fish predator treatments and at different times. Macrophyte analogue architecture had strong, consistent effects on both the macroinvertebrate and periphyton communities; both were most abundant and diverse on the most structurally complex plant analogue. In contrast, the fish predators affected only a subset of the macroinvertebrate community and there was a suggestion of minor indirect effects on periphyton community composition. Contrary to expectations, the fish predators had their strongest effects in the most structurally complex macrophyte analogue. We conclude that in this system, macrophyte shape strongly regulates the associated freshwater assemblage, resulting in a diverse community structure less likely to exhibit strong effects of fish predation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr Henry Foster for access to the river and his support. Ash Warfe, Tom Halcombe, Will Elvey, Richard Holmes and the Clifton Beach crew are thanked for their help in the field and with plant and cage construction. The Inland Fisheries Service of Tasmania and the Animal Ethics Committee of the University of Tasmania provided the relevant permits and approvals to conduct this research. Peter E. Davies, Reg Magierowski and Paul Reich are thanked for their insights and discussions, as is David Ratkowsky (University of Tasmania) for his statistical advice. We are grateful to Todd Crowl (University of Utah) and Dan Soluk (University of South Dakota), Jeff Meggs and Rob Musk for valuable feedback on an earlier versions of this manuscript. We also thank Barbara Downes and an anonymous reviewer for their considered comments, and Marti J. Anderson (University of Auckland) for clarifying an issue with implementing DISTLM. A University of Tasmania Supplementary Research Grant to L.A.B. and an Australian Postgraduate Award to D.M.W. provided financial support.

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  1. Danielle M. Warfe

    Present address: Water Resources Division, Department of Primary Industries and Water, 13 St Johns Avenue, New Town, Tasmania, 7008, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Zoology and Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 5, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia

    Danielle M. Warfe & Leon A. Barmuta

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  1. Danielle M. Warfe
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  2. Leon A. Barmuta
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Correspondence to Danielle M. Warfe.

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Communicated by Roland Brandl

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Warfe, D.M., Barmuta, L.A. Habitat structural complexity mediates food web dynamics in a freshwater macrophyte community. Oecologia 150, 141–154 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0505-1

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