How to translate text using browser tools
11 June 2013 Leaf-litter stoichiometry is affected by streamwater phosphorus concentrations and litter type
Erin E. Scott, Clay Prater, Eric Norman, Bryant C. Baker, Michelle Evans-White, J. Thad Scott
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The stoichiometric ratios of organisms and their food resources can influence C and nutrient dynamics in aquatic ecosystems. Several investigators have quantified linkages between nutrient enrichment and consumer stoichiometry for stream detritivores, but very few have systematically quantified the effect of P enrichment on leaf-litter stoichiometry. Here, we examine the potential stoichiometric changes of 2 species of leaf litter subjected to varying levels of P enrichment in laboratory microcosms and mixed species across a natural P gradient of streams in the Ozark Highlands Region, Arkansas, USA. Leaf-litter %P content increased and C∶P ratios decreased with increasing levels of P enrichment and with increasing lability of the leaf species. In the laboratory study, C∶P of maple and oak leaves in the control treatment was ∼2500, whereas this ratio decreased to 500 and 1000 in the high-P treatments, respectively. Total P (TP) was inversely related to leaf-litter C∶P along the natural P gradient of streams in the Ozarks. Our results add to the growing body of information on the potential bottom-up effects of anthropogenic nutrient loading in streams and the influence of water-column nutrients and leaf quality on this response.

The Society for Freshwater Science
Erin E. Scott, Clay Prater, Eric Norman, Bryant C. Baker, Michelle Evans-White, and J. Thad Scott "Leaf-litter stoichiometry is affected by streamwater phosphorus concentrations and litter type," Freshwater Science 32(3), 753-761, (11 June 2013). https://doi.org/10.1899/12-215.1
Received: 25 December 2012; Accepted: 1 April 2013; Published: 11 June 2013
JOURNAL ARTICLE
9 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Aquatic fungi
Decomposition
detritus
leaf litter
nutrients
phosphorus
stoichiometry
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top