Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes
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The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
2014
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu13875360642021-08-03T06:21:06Z Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes Goss, Charles W. Ecology Environmental Science forest fragment agricultural landscapes agriculture-forest transition aquatic-terrestrial linkages aquatic insects ecological threshold land-cover change stream restoration headwater stream leaf breakdown It is widely recognized that headwater stream ecosystems are intimately associated with riparian forests. Riparian forests trap sediment, filter nutrients, provide shading, and are sources of allochthonous energy for stream food webs. Reciprocally, streams fuel riparian consumers via aquatic-to-terrestrial fluxes of aquatic emergent insects. The widespread clearing of forests in agricultural landscapes, however, has led to a decoupling of forest-stream dynamics. Patches of forest in these landscapes are often small and isolated, but may retain important functional forest-stream linkages that are otherwise absent in the surrounding agricultural landscape matrix. In this dissertation I report on a series of studies with the goal of assessing the influence of forest patches on reciprocal linkages between forests and streams in agricultural landscapes. To address this goal, I surveyed both larval and adult (emergent) aquatic invertebrate communities and estimated various physicochemical parameters in streams that exhibit abrupt transitions in land cover – agriculture-forest and agriculture-forest-agriculture – in agricultural landscapes of central Ohio, USA. My results provide evidence for threshold changes in larval aquatic invertebrate communities that were associated with strong changes in physical habitat, temperature, and nutrient concentrations primarily occurring between the forest edge and 324 m into forest patches. Similarly, I found that community composition of aquatic emergent insects exhibited strong shifts near the upstream edge of forest patches and a subsequent shift was observed within 139 m of edges at the downstream end of forest patches. Aquatic-to-terrestrial fluxes of aquatic emergent insect biomass also strongly responded to forest patches, exhibiting particularly strong variation as a function of distance from the center of forests. At two of the three study streams, total emergence biomass was highest near the forest center and systematically declined closer to forest edges; patterns in mean aquatic emergent insect body size were more variable but similarly showed strong variation with distance from the forest center. Shifts in aquatic emergent insect communities and biomass fluxes were also linked to variation in physical habitat, water quality, and basal energy sources suggesting that spatial configuration of land cover drives environmental variation that in turn influences emergence dynamics. A literature review revealed that results from my studies were consistent with and expanded the extant literature on the influence of forest fragments on streams in agricultural landscapes. In general, the results of the review suggest that agricultural streams rapidly change upon entering forests leading to strong shifts in physical (increased channel width, and reduced fine sediments and solar radiation) and water quality (lower N concentrations) attributes that were linked to shifts in aquatic macroinvertebrate communities that generally occurred within the first 450 m after entering forest fragments. Overall my results suggest that streams rapidly recover upon entering forests, and that even small patches of forest may be able to restore functional linkages between forests and streams in agricultural landscapes. 2014-05-21 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1387536064 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1387536064 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Ecology Environmental Science forest fragment agricultural landscapes agriculture-forest transition aquatic-terrestrial linkages aquatic insects ecological threshold land-cover change stream restoration headwater stream leaf breakdown |
| spellingShingle |
Ecology Environmental Science forest fragment agricultural landscapes agriculture-forest transition aquatic-terrestrial linkages aquatic insects ecological threshold land-cover change stream restoration headwater stream leaf breakdown Goss, Charles W. Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| author |
Goss, Charles W. |
| author_facet |
Goss, Charles W. |
| author_sort |
Goss, Charles W. |
| title |
Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| title_short |
Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| title_full |
Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| title_fullStr |
Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| title_sort |
influence of forest fragments on headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes |
| publisher |
The Ohio State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1387536064 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT gosscharlesw influenceofforestfragmentsonheadwaterstreamecosystemsinagriculturallandscapes |
| _version_ |
1719435225530892288 |