Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T08:34:52.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trophic relationships and food webs of the benthic invertebrate fauna of two aseasonal tropical streams on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Catherine Mary Yule
Catherine Mary Yule
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The trophic ecology of Konaino Creek, a small mountain headwater stream draining rainforest in the aseasonal tropics on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea, was examined and a food web was constructed. The major source of energy in Konaiano Creek was allochthonous detritus, most of which had been terrestrially degraded to fine particulate organic matter rather than entering the stream as leaf litter. This fine detritus was collected by the filter-feeders (mostly Simuliidae and also Hydropsychidae) which formed the dominant functional feeding group (64.4% of the fauna). Thus filterers processed most of the allochthonous detritus and made the energy available to other trophic levels, rather than shredders (1.7% of the fauna) which perform this role in temperate headwater streams. Collector-gatherers made up 22.7% of the fauna, carnivorses, mostly Odonata, Decapoda (crabs) and Hydrobiosidae, comprised 2.8% of the fauna and grazer-scrapers made up 7.4%. The latter were inhibited by low instream production owing to heavy shading and the instability and abrasion of the substrate due to frequent spates. In comparison, the trophic ecology of the nearby, coastal, Bovo River (with a catchment mainly in rainforest but mostly cleared with introduced species at the study site) was quite different and it was dominated by collector-gatherers (74%) and grazer-scrapers (15%).

Keywords

Aseasonal tropical trophic ecologyBougainville Islandfood webs
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , July 1996 , pp. 517 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Anderson, N. H. & Sedell, J. R. 1979. Detritus processing by macroinvertebrates in stream ecosystems. Annual Revue of Entomology 24:351–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, J. E. 1973. Limnology of a small Malayan river Sungai Gombak. Dr. W. Junk Publishers. The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boon, P.J. 1984. Habitat exploitation by larvae of Amphipsyche meridiana (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) in a Javanese lake outlet. Freshwater Biology 14:1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burton, G. J. & Mcrae, T. M. 1972. Observations on trichopteran predators of aquatic stages of Simulium damnosum and other Simulium species in Ghana, Journal of Medical Entomology 9:289–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chessman, B. C. 1986. Dietary studies of aquatic insects from two Victorian rivers. Australian Journal of Marine Freshwater Research 37:129–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crosskey, R. W. 1990. The natural history of blackflies. J. Wiley & Sons. 711 pp.Google Scholar
Cummins, K. W. 1973. Trophic relations of aquatic insects. Annual Revue of Entomology 18:183–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, K. W. 1974. Structure and function of stream ecosystems. BioScience 24:631–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, K. W. 1992. Invertebrates. Pp. 234–250 in Calow, P. and Petts, G. E. (eds.) The rivers handbook. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 526 pp.Google Scholar
Cummins, K. W., Wilzbach, M. A., Gates, D. M., Perry, J. B. & Taliaferro, W. B. 1989. Shredders and riparian vegetation. BioScience 39:24–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deshmukh, I. 1986. Ecology and tropical biology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 386 pp.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1982. Spatial and seasonal variations in the standing crop of periphyton and allochthonous detritus in a forest stream in Hong Kong, with notes on the magnitude and fate of riparian leaf fall. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 64:189–220.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1984. Longitudinal and temporal changes in functional organization of macroinvertebrate communities in the Lam Tsuen River, Hong Kong. Hydrobiologia 111:207–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1989. The influence of riparian vegetation on the functional organization of four Hong Kong stream communities. Hydrobiologia 179:183–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1992. Patterns and processes in stream ecology. A synoptic review of Hong Kong running waters. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Nägele u. Obermiller). Stuttgart: 1–147.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, D. & Wat, C. Y. M. 1986. Life cycle and diet of Zygonyx iris insignis (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera) in Hong Kong running waters. Journal of Tropical Ecology 2:73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrman, T. P. & Lamberti, G. A. 1992. Hydraulic and particulate matter retention in a 3rd-order Indiana stream, Journal of the North American Benthological Society 11:341–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fittkau, E. J. & Klinge, H. 1973. On biomass and trophic structure of the central Amazonian rain forest ecosystem. Biotropica 5:2–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hearnden, M. N. & Pearson, R. G. In press. The diets of mayflies (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) in a tropical Australian rainforest stream, Journal of Tropical Freshwater Ecology.Google Scholar
Henderson, P. A. & Walker, I. 1986. On the leaf litter community of the Amazonian blackwater stream Tarumazinho. Journal of Tropical Ecology 2:1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hynes, H. B. N. 1970. The ecology of running waters. Liverpool University Press. 555 pp.Google Scholar
Jones, J. B. & Smock, L. A. 1991. Transport and retention of particulate organic mater in two low-gradient headwater streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 10:115–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamberti, G. A. & Moore, J. W. 1984. Aquatic insects as primary consumers. Pp. 164–195 in Resh, V. H. & Rosenberg, D. M. (eds.) The ecology of aquatic insects. Praeger, New York722 pp.Google Scholar
Longman, K. A. & Jenik, J. 1987: Tropical forest and its environment. 2nd Ed.Longman Scientific, Harlow. 347 pp.Google Scholar
Mabberley, D. J. 1983. Tropical rainforest ecology. Blackie, Glasgow. 156 pp.Google Scholar
Mccullough, D. A., Minshall, G. W. & Cushing, C. E. 1979. Bioenergetics of lotic filter-feeding insects Simulium spp. (Diptera) and Hydropsyche occidentalis (Trichoptera) and their function in controlling organic transport in streams. Ecology 60:585–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merritt, R. W. & Cummins, K. W. 1984. An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. 2nd Ed.Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa. 722 pp.Google Scholar
Minshall, G. W. 1967. Role of allochthonous detritus in the trophic structure of a woodland springbrook community. Ecology 48:139–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minshall, G. W., Cummins, K. W., Petersen, R. C., Cushing, C. E., Bruns, D. A., Sedell, J. R., & Vannote, R. L. 1985. Developments in stream ecosystem theory. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42:1045–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, R. G., Benson, L. J. & Smith, R. E. W. 1986. Diversity and abundance of the fauna in Yuccabine Creek, a tropical rainforest stream. Pp. 329–342 in De Deckker, P. & Williams, W. D. (eds) Limnology in Australia. CSIRO Australia Dr W. Junk, Dordtrecht. 671 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stout, R. J. 1989. Effects of condensed tannins on leaf processing in mid-latitude tropical streams: a theoretical approach. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 46:1097–1105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vannote, R. L., Minshall, G. W., Cummins, K. W., Sedell, J. R., & Cushing, C. E. 1980. The river continuum concept. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37:130–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, J. B. & Merritt, R. W. 1980. Filter-feeding ecology of aquatic insects. Annual Revue of Entomology 25:103–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiggins, G. B. 1984. Trichoptera. Pp. 271–311. in Merritt, R. W. & Cummins, K. W. (eds.) An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. 2nd Ed.Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Dubuque, Iowa. 721 pp.Google Scholar
Winterbourn, M. J., Cowie, B. & Rounick, J. S. 1984. Food resources and ingestion patterns of insects along a West Coast, South Island, river system. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 18:43–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, C. M. 1986. Comparison of the dietary habits of six species of Dinotoperla (Plecoptera: Gripopterygidae) in Victoria. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 37:121–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, C. M. 1993. The ecology of an aseasonal tropical stream on Bougainville Island. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Department of Zoology, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia.Google Scholar
Yule, C. M. 1995a. The benthic invertebrate fauna of an aseasonal tropical stream on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 46:507–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, C. M. 1995b. The ecology of an aseasonal tropical river on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Pp. 1–13 in Timotius, K. H. & Goltenboth, F. (Eds.) Tropical limnology Vol III. Satya Wacana University Press. Salatiga, Indonesia. (In press).Google Scholar
Yule, C. M. In Press. Spatial distribution of the invertebrate fauna of an aseasonal tropical stream on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Archiv für Hydrobiologie.Google Scholar
Yule, C. M. & Pearson, R. G. In Press. Aseasonality of benthic invertebrates in two tropical streams on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Archiv für Hydrobiologie.Google Scholar