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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(278) DETRITAL INPUT AND FLUVIAL MOVEMENT IN CONIFEROUS FOREST AND FLOODPLAIN MEADOW REACHES OF TWO SMALL STREAMS.
E.N.J. Brookshire, J.B. Kauffman, and K.A. Dwire. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University,Corvallis,OR, 97333
The influence of riparian patchiness on detrital dynamics, particularly with regard to non-forested stream reaches, is poorly understood. We estimated annual detrital inputs and associated carbon and nitrogen to coniferous forest and downstream floodplain meadow reaches of two second-order streams in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. We also investigated longitudinal patterns of particulate transport, retention, and storage from forest to meadow in both streams. Annual inputs to the forest reaches were dominated by litterfall and lateral movement of needles, wood, and N-rich alder leaves. Meadow reaches received equal to higher inputs, but of herbaceous (primarily sedge) material incorporated during spring flooding. Particulate organic matter transport did not exhibit a clear longitudinal pattern. Particulate concentration was strongly associated with discharge in the forests but was much less so in the meadows. Retention rates estimated from leaf releases did not differ among reaches during base-flow. However, during high-flow the forest reaches were much more retentive than the meadow reaches. Moreover, storage of benthic organic matter, particularly of wood, was highest in the forest reaches and lowest in the meadow reaches. In these streams differences between forest and meadow reaches may influence the relative importance of riparian plant detritus to aquatic food webs.
Presented at 11:30 AM on Thursday, June 1, 2000 in Organic Matter Processing II
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