Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - 11:15 AM
132

The Hyporheic Food Web of a Sandy-Bottom Third-Order Stream in Bibb County, Alabama

Thomas S. Wright, M.S., Water, Sci, Biology, University of Alabama, 3201 Hargrove Road East, #3405, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405

    A study of hyporheic food webs was conducted on Mayfield Creek, a third–order stream located in the Talladega National Forest, Bibb County, Alabama.  The purpose of this continuing study is to ascertain the first level of the hyporheic food web (i.e., particulate organic matter or not), food chain lengths, directed connectance, connectivity, predator/prey ratios, trophic overlaps of the food webs, and the possible existence of seasonal and/or depth-related food webs.  Collection of organisms was carried out by insertion of 30 cm by 7 cm PVC push cores into the sediment of Mayfield Creek. Once collected, the sample was brought back to the lab and separated into three 10-cm sections (top, middle, and bottom) and organisms and particulate organic matter separated from the inorganic substrate.  Organisms were mounted and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic grouping; gut contents, if present, were also analyzed with the aid of an oil-immersion light microscope.  Relevant physical and chemical parameters (such as dissolved oxygen, inorganic nutrients, etc.) were sampled via piezometers installed in the stream bed.  Gut content data from each of the taxa is expected to be combined with the taxas’ C14/N15 isotope analysis to produce an annual food web for Mayfield Creek.   

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