The influence of age-specific habitat selection by a stream crayfish community (Orconectes spp.) on secondary production

Abstract

We examined the hypothesis that secondary production of a community of stream crayfish (Orconectes spp.) depended upon the available suite of channel units (e.g., riffle, run, pool) and that age-specific use of channel units was the important underlying mechanism. Nine cohorts of each of three species over a 10-year period at two sites on the Jacks Fork River, Missouri, USA, were sampled. Cohort-production estimates were calculated for specific channel units: riffles, runs, pools, backwaters and emergent vegetation patches. Orconectes luteus was the most productive species with similar production across channel units. Production of O. ozarkae and O. punctimanus was significantly greater in vegetation patches than other channel units. There were no species by channel unit differences in production between the two sites. Although total site production for some species substantially changed over the 10-year period, relative production differences between habitats remained temporally stable. Differences in mean production between channel units were largely due to age-class habitat use rather than differences related to growth. Some channel units particularly susceptible to common anthropogenic activities that result in hydrograph alterations and homogenization of physical habitat, e.g., backwaters, vegetation patches, and pools, were particularly important as high production areas for two species. A variety of channel units appears necessary for maintaining the high secondary production and diversity of crayfish in this system.