Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition.
Headwaters, which are the most common stream order in the landscape, are mostly dependent on energy produced in the terrestrial system, largely consisting of leaf litter from riparian vegetation. The aim of this study was to investigate the decomposition in headwaters of leaf litter from three nativ...
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Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2015
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-105488 2023-10-09T21:54:34+02:00 Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. Lidman, Johan 2015 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-105488 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-105488 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Leaf-litter decomposition headwaters microbial decomposition shredders ecosystem adaptation Ecology Ekologi Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2015 ftumeauniv 2023-09-22T13:43:54Z Headwaters, which are the most common stream order in the landscape, are mostly dependent on energy produced in the terrestrial system, largely consisting of leaf litter from riparian vegetation. The aim of this study was to investigate the decomposition in headwaters of leaf litter from three native (alder, birch, spruce) and one non-native (lodgepole pine) species and how decomposition responds to changes in the environment. Further, microbial and shredder influences on leaf-litter decomposition and aquatic decomposer ability to adapt to non-native species was investigated. By using field-data from this study, calculations were made to assess if microbes and shredders are resource limited. Litterbags were placed in 20 headwater streams in northern Sweden that varied in water chemistry, stream physical characteristics and riparian vegetation. The results revealed that species litter decomposition of different plant species was affected differently by changes in environmental variables. Alder and birch decomposition were positively associated, whereas lodgepole pine deviated from the other species in decomposition and its relationship with important environmental variables, indicating that the ability of the boreal aquatic systems to decompose litter differs between introduced and native species. When including macroinvertebrates, shredder fragmentation generally increased decomposition, but was not significant for all sites. Resource availability for microbes and shredders was controlled by litter input, and no risk of resource limitations was evident during the study period. These findings highlight a complexity of the decomposition process that needs to be considered when predicting changes due to human activities. Bachelor Thesis Northern Sweden Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
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Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
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English |
topic |
Leaf-litter decomposition headwaters microbial decomposition shredders ecosystem adaptation Ecology Ekologi |
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Leaf-litter decomposition headwaters microbial decomposition shredders ecosystem adaptation Ecology Ekologi Lidman, Johan Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
topic_facet |
Leaf-litter decomposition headwaters microbial decomposition shredders ecosystem adaptation Ecology Ekologi |
description |
Headwaters, which are the most common stream order in the landscape, are mostly dependent on energy produced in the terrestrial system, largely consisting of leaf litter from riparian vegetation. The aim of this study was to investigate the decomposition in headwaters of leaf litter from three native (alder, birch, spruce) and one non-native (lodgepole pine) species and how decomposition responds to changes in the environment. Further, microbial and shredder influences on leaf-litter decomposition and aquatic decomposer ability to adapt to non-native species was investigated. By using field-data from this study, calculations were made to assess if microbes and shredders are resource limited. Litterbags were placed in 20 headwater streams in northern Sweden that varied in water chemistry, stream physical characteristics and riparian vegetation. The results revealed that species litter decomposition of different plant species was affected differently by changes in environmental variables. Alder and birch decomposition were positively associated, whereas lodgepole pine deviated from the other species in decomposition and its relationship with important environmental variables, indicating that the ability of the boreal aquatic systems to decompose litter differs between introduced and native species. When including macroinvertebrates, shredder fragmentation generally increased decomposition, but was not significant for all sites. Resource availability for microbes and shredders was controlled by litter input, and no risk of resource limitations was evident during the study period. These findings highlight a complexity of the decomposition process that needs to be considered when predicting changes due to human activities. |
format |
Bachelor Thesis |
author |
Lidman, Johan |
author_facet |
Lidman, Johan |
author_sort |
Lidman, Johan |
title |
Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
title_short |
Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
title_full |
Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
title_fullStr |
Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : Effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
title_sort |
decomposition of leaf litter in headwater streams. : effects of changes in the environment and contribution of microbial and shredder activity on litter decomposition. |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-105488 |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_relation |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-105488 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1779318195787661312 |