Abstract
In the Australian wet–dry tropics, seasonal changes in hydrology can influence abiotic conditions and consequently influence standing stocks of benthic biomass and production. While there is some understanding of these processes at riverscape scales, effects of seasonal hydrology on benthic biomass and production in low-order streams remain largely unquantified. We observed changes in water quality, algal and macroinvertebrate biomass, and stream benthic primary productivity over a 15-month period in three low-order streams with contrasting flow regimes in the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia. Water quantity and quality showed a distinct seasonal signature reflected in seasonal peaks in algal (maximum 1.29 µg cm−2) and macroinvertebrate biomass (maximum 0.24 g m−2), and productivity (maximum 0.41 g C m−2 days−1). In particular, transitional periods between dry and wet seasons were key times of elevated production and algal biomass. Overall, variation in biomass and benthic primary production was greater between seasons than among streams indicating that extrapolation between seasons may not be appropriate.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Wagiman and Jawoyn Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory for access to study sites. We thank Andrew Raith, Alex Wood, and Simon Townsend for assistance with fieldwork, and Luke Heames for assistance with sample processing. Dale Roberts (UWA), Simon Townsend (CDU), and Robert Naiman (UW/ UWA) are thanked for their knowledge input and constructive comments on a draft manuscript. Funding for this project was provided by the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) research programme which received major funding through the Australian Government’s Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities initiative, the Australian Government’s Raising National Water Standards Programme, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, and the Queensland Government’s Smart State Innovation Fund. Deanne Drake and four anonymous reviewers provided very helpful comments.
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Garcia, E.A., Pettit, N.E., Warfe, D.M. et al. Temporal variation in benthic primary production in streams of the Australian wet–dry tropics. Hydrobiologia 760, 43–55 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2301-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2301-6