HR: 1330h
AN: NB33I-08    [Abstracts]
TI: The Effects of Land-use on Seston Size in Southern Appalachian Streams
AU: Whitfield, M A
EM: annie02@vt.edu
AF: Virginia Tech University, 2119 Derring Hall Biology Department, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: * Wojculewski, C A
EM: christyw@vt.edu
AF: Virginia Tech University, 2119 Derring Hall Biology Department, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AU: Webster, J R
EM: jwebster@vt.edu
AF: Virginia Tech University, 2119 Derring Hall Biology Department, Blacksburg, VA 24061 United States
AB: To assess effects of land-use on stream seston, we took samples from nine streams draining three land-use types: forested (reference), agricultural, and residential. Samples were collected in mid-August and mid-November. We determined the distribution of particle sizes (ultrafine (0.45-25 μm), very fine (25-45 μm), fine (45-100 μm), small (100-250 μm), and medium large (250-1000 μm)), % organic, and chlorophyll-a content. Larger particles were found in forested streams and smaller particles were found in residential streams. Chlorophyll-a content was higher in residential and agricultural streams. The larger particles in forested streams were probably due to biological fragmentation of leaves whereas the smaller particles in residential streams were most likely the result of soil erosion. The chlorophyll-a content of seston was related to the openness of the canopy over the sites.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly