HR: 09:30h
AN: NB31A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Effects of Periphyton Quantity and Quality on the Benthic Community Characteristics of Five South Shore Lake Superior Tributaries
AU: * Rybczynski, S M
EM: rybczynski.stephen@epa.gov
AF: Northern Michigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855 United States
AU: Strand, M
EM: rostrand@nmu.edu
AF: Northern Michigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855 United States
AB: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PRNL) is the largest protected wilderness area on the south shore of Lake Superior. The National Park Service is interested in assessing the condition of aquatic resources in PRNL, especially the Lake Superior tributaries which support populations of migratory brook trout ("coasters"). We conducted a multi-trophic level production study as part of a habitat assessment of PRNL streams to identify relationships between periphyton production and macroinvertebrate abundance and richness. Benthic invertebrates were collected using multi-plate style samplers. Periphyton respiration rate (CO2 efflux) and C:N ratio were measured to determine the quantity and quality of periphyton respectively. Invertebrate abundance and richness, and periphyton CO2 efflux differed significantly among streams and seasonally within each stream. Efflux was weakly correlated with stream discharge and water temperature. Invertebrate abundance increased with periphyton quantity, while richness tended to decrease with both periphyton quantity and quality. These results indicate that benthic invertebrate abundance and community composition are linked to variation in periphyton production, and that secondary production of benthic invertebrates may be effectively predicted by measuring periphyton efflux. This technique has applications as an alternative to traditional methods used by researchers in estimating secondary production of benthic invertebrates.
DE: 9901 NABS Student Award - Basic Research
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly