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- Title
Potential Impacts on Stream Macroinvertebrates of an Influx of Woody Debris from Eastern Hemlock Demise.
- Authors
Pitt, Danielle B.; Batzer, Darold P.
- Abstract
Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) may face ecological extinction in Georgia due to hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) invasion. Hemlock demise is predicted to lead to a large influx of hemlock wood into streams. We sampled invertebrates in Billingsley Creek, a Georgia Appalachian headwater stream, to test the hypothesis that this influx of coarse woody debris (CWD) will shift community composition by diversifying and adding to ecosystem structure. To mimic a mass hemlock die-off, ~600 m3/ha of variously sized dead hemlock wood was introduced to 11 of 21 plots. We sampled macroinvertebrates and environmental conditions at all plots for 1 year before and 1 year after wood introductions. Benthic invertebrates responded positively but marginally to introduced wood in terms of abundance, biomass, and diversity. Results suggested that CWD is a limiting resource for invertebrate abundance and biomass in Billingsley Creek. Plots with introduced wood collected significantly more benthic organic matter (63.2 g/m2) than plots without introduced wood (20.6 g/m2) in December, soon after leaf-fall (P = 0.049), which may help explain this response. Several shredder taxa were indicators of introduced wood. We predict that a future influx of deadwood will alter community composition without posing a threat to its constituents.
- Subjects
INVERTEBRATE ecology; COARSE woody debris; SLASH (Logging); WOOD waste; FORESTS &; forestry
- Publication
Forest Science, 2015, Vol 61, Issue 4, p737
- ISSN
0015-749X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5849/forsci.14-069