Benthic and interstitial habitats of a lentic spring as invertebrate refuges during supra-seasonal drought

Stubbington, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8475-5109 and Wood, PJ, 2013. Benthic and interstitial habitats of a lentic spring as invertebrate refuges during supra-seasonal drought. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, 182 (1), pp. 61-73. ISSN 1863-9135

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Abstract

Instream refuges are places where invertebrates persist during disturbances due to reduced adverse impacts. During droughts, low flows may be accompanied by elevated temperatures, and potential refuges including subsurface sediments and spring-fed headwaters are therefore characterized by hydrological and thermal stability. This study examined invertebrate use of benthic and interstitial habitats (analogous to the hyporheic zone) in a groundwater-dominated, perennial limnocrene spring during a supra-seasonal drought. Although exceptionally high air temperatures occurred as flow declined, environmental conditions in the spring were relatively stable, and refuge-seeking vertical migrations into interstitial habitats did not coincide with peak temperatures. However, maximum benthic abundance of two amphipods (Gammarus pulex and Crangonyx pseudogracilis) occurred shortly after the period of elevated temperatures. It is suggested that this temporary increase in the abundance of these mobile taxa reflected upstream migrations triggered by a combination of refuge-seeking behaviour and thermally-stimulated activity. In addition, the spring provided a passive refuge for many lotic invertebrate taxa. A conceptual model is presented, which illustrates the potential contribution of multiple refuges to invertebrate persistence in drought-impacted ecosystems.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Fundamental and Applied Limnology
Creators:	Stubbington, R. and Wood, P.J.
Publisher:	Schweizerbart
Place of Publication:	Stuttgart
Date:	2013
Volume:	182
Number:	1
ISSN:	1863-9135
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1127/1863-9135/2013/0409 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 11:10
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2017 13:51
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/23803

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