Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 2:30 PM
574

Patterns of caddisfly stoichiometry within riverine networks: The relative importance of homeostasis, food stoichiometry, and stream size

James Hood, Jacques C. Finlay, and R.W. Sterner. Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108

Integration of the River Continuum Concept with Ecological Stoichiometry may help predict changes in consumer-resource dynamics through riverine networks.  One important control over consumer-resource interactions is the response of consumer nutrient excretion to variation in diet and consumer stoichiometry.  We know little about how consumer carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry is shaped by the diet variation that typically occurs across gradients of stream size.  Here, we examine how the body C:N:P of two generalist caddisflies (Lepidostoma sp. and Psychoglypha sp.) varies within a forested, riverine network in northern California (Mendocino County, CA). In the south fork Eel River, these caddisflies are abundant in streams spanning 3 orders of magnitude in watershed size, corresponding to increases in stream temperature, a shift from terrestrial to algal resources, and changes in resource stoichiometry.  Caddisfly P varied by approximately 40% among streams.  Yet, variation in mean caddisfly stoichiometry could not be linked to one factor.  Instead, caddisfly stoichiometry was a function of multiple factors, potentially including size, resource C:N:P, and stream temperature.  Our results indicate that the stoichiometric variability of consumers should be taken into account when predicting how consumer-resource dynamics vary within riverine networks.


Web Page: Stoichiometry, food webs,