Does species diversity of caddisflies enhance detritus breakdown and nutrient release in temporary ponds?
Abstract
In small temporary ponds (“Kettle Ponds”) near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, several species of detritivorous caddisflies coexist as detritus processors. Three congeneric caddisflies, Limnephilus externus, Limnephilus sublunatus, and Limnephilus tarsalis play an important role in aquatic trophic cascades by: 1) liberating N and P stored in detritus and 2) stimulating algal growth, as well as being a direct food source for carnivores. To test whether these species have the same trophic position and ecosystem function, and therefore are functionally redundant, I assembled single-species and multi-species assemblages with the same total biomass in microcosms for 30 days and compared water nutrient levels (NH4+ and P) and algal growth as the experiment progressed. I predicted that multi-species caddisfly treatments would process more detritus to support the hypothesis that each species occupies a specific niche and so are not functionally redundant. I also predicted that higher detritus processing would lead to more nitrogen and phosphorus in the water and thus higher algal growth. Experimental results did not support that hypothesis, but other confounding factors like intraguild predation within the multi-species microcosms may have biased outcomes. In a broader context, these results provide evidence that detritivores have significant impacts on greater algal growth and the release of nutrients back up aquatic trophic cascades.
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References (14)
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