SFS Annual Meeting

5/21/2018  |   09:00 - 09:15   |  330 A

NAVIGATING BETWEEN ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING IN RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT; AN OVERVIEW OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE. Most biological assessments of surface water quality have been based on structural attributes. The use of functional attributes, such as decomposition, secondary production, nutrient cycling and whole-stream metabolism, to assess water quality have been much less often used. Surprisingly few studies cover a combination of both. Structural and functional attributes can provide complimentary information on ecosystem health. Multiple stressors can affect structure and functioning of ecosystems in different ways, most probably due to different interactions on different trophic levels. Furthermore, changes in species compositions, especially species losses, will alter the rates of ecological processes that are vital to retain inherent ecosystem functions. Above that anthropogenic stress can directly alter ecosystem functioning. The pathways of anthropogenic stress that induce either changes in ecosystem processes or in ecosystem structures could in combination strengthen tools to assess ecosystem integrity and help management in taking accurate measures. We will provide an overview of structural and functional responses under different natural conditions and anthropogenic stress. We will indicate directions in which combined approaches can assist management in making effective decisions.

Piet F.M. Verdonschot (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Amsterdam / Wageningen Environmental Research , piet.verdonschot@wur.nl;


Gea van der Lee (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Wageningen Environmental Research, gea.vanderlee@wur.nl;


Ralf C.M. Verdonschot (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Wageningen Environmental Research, ralf.verdonschot@wur.nl;


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5/21/2018  |   09:15 - 09:30   |  330 A

EFFECT OF AGRICULTURAL LAND-USE ON STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF LOWLAND STREAMS Assessment of the ecological water quality commonly only encompasses structural measurements, such as species composition. These measures are then used as surrogate for ecosystem functioning neglecting direct measurements of ecosystem processes. We questioned how freshwater species composition relates to ecosystem processes, and how anthropogenic stressors impact this relationship? To this purpose we measured the physico-chemistry, invertebrate community, and macrophytes community (structural parameters), as well as oxygen dynamics, primary productivity, decomposition (functional parameters) in four replicate streams in The Netherlands. In each stream, a sampling site was located upstream, midstream, and downstream, with increasing agricultural land use adjacent the stream. Based on our findings we will reflect how these structural and functional approaches relate to each other and reflect the impact of agricultural land use on the health of these streams, and can support stream management and restoration.

Gea van der Lee (Primary Presenter/Author), Wageningen Environmental Research, gea.vanderlee@wur.nl;


Ralf C.M. Verdonschot (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Wageningen Environmental Research, ralf.verdonschot@wur.nl;


Michiel Kraak (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, M.H.S.Kraak@uva.nl;


Piet F.M. Verdonschot (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Amsterdam / Wageningen Environmental Research , piet.verdonschot@wur.nl;


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5/21/2018  |   09:30 - 09:45   |  

STREAM METABOLISM IN AGRICULTURAL AND URBAN LANDSCAPES: SPATIAL VS TEMPORAL PATTERNS There is need for integrating stream processes into characterizing and managing stream ecosystems. Through several regional stream quality assessments, the USGS is assessing the interaction of chemical and physical stressors on biological communities. Spatial and temporal patterns in stream metabolism were quantified, and related to benthic community metrics at ten sites in the Midwest and Southeast U.S. High-frequency dissolved oxygen and nitrate data were collected over a six month period at each site. Spatial comparisons during August found average Gross Primary Production ranging from 0.1 to 1.8 g O2/m2/d, Ecosystem Respiration from 0.37 to 3.55 g O2/m2/d, and Net Daily Metabolism from -3 to 0.4. Watershed features, as in drainage area, and riparian canopy were important explanatory variables. Site-specific temporal patterns revealed that metabolism parameters at reference sites were influenced by nitrate and depth, whereas agricultural sites were controlled primarily by physical features, as in depth. Frequent changes in stream flow in urban streams often resulted in a lack of any distinct pattern in metabolism. For the spatial comparison, we found that both ER and GPP were correlated with a subset of biological metrics used for classifying stream condition.

Mark Munn (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Geological Survey, Tacoma, WA, mdmunn@usgs.gov;


Christopher Konrad (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), US Geological Survey, cpkonrad@usgs.gov;


Matthew Miller (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, mamiller@usgs.gov;


Ian Waite (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, Portland, OR, iwaite@usgs.gov;


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5/21/2018  |   09:45 - 10:00   |  

FINE SEDIMENT IMPACT ON STREAM METABOLISM: A LAND USE EFFECT Stream metabolism is a key process in flowing water ecosystems that might be affected by the input of fine sediment. In lowland streams, fine sediment accumulation occurs naturally and its presence does not exert/have an impact itself, but its organic matter composition could cause affect in dissolved oxygen regime and stream metabolism. Therefore, we hypothesized that catchment land use defines instream silt signatures which affect the stream ecosystems oxygen regimes and metabolism. To validate our hypothesis we selected five different land uses: forest, extensive grassland, intensive grassland, crop and urban; and the following questions have been raised: 1) How does dissolved oxygen regime and metabolism vary among streams in various land use types?; 2) Is dissolved oxygen regime and metabolism affected by the accumulation of fine sediment in deposition zones?; 3) Is sediment organic matter composition a key environmental variable steering dissolved oxygen in lowland streams? From the outcome, based on both structural and functional approaches, we will analyze the impact of fine sediment on stream metabolism.

Paula dos Reis Oliveira (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Amsterdam, p.c.dosreisoliveira@uva.nl;


Piet F.M. Verdonschot (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Amsterdam / Wageningen Environmental Research , piet.verdonschot@wur.nl;


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5/21/2018  |   10:00 - 10:15   |  

PERIPHYTON FUNCTIONAL PARAMETERS AS INDICATORS OF PHOSPHORUS ENRICHMENT ALONG AN AGRICULTURAL IMPACT GRADIENT IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA The capacity to reliably assess the functional integrity of stream ecosystems is at the heart of stream assessment and restoration. However, direct measures of ecosystem function are often cumbersome, expensive and have not been used widely enough to develop predictive models relating functional indicator responses to the myriad of potential stressors. The goal of this project was to utilize a suite of "rapid" assessment protocols targeted at algal-dominated stream periphyton to examine responses in 20 stream ecosystems spanning a phosphorus gradient in an agricultural region of central Pennsylvania. We measured nitrogen and phosphorus uptake in portable mesocosms, photosynthetic capacity using pulse amplitude modulated fluorometery and extracellular enzymes (beta-glucosidase, beta-xylosidase, alkaline phosphatase, leucine-aminopeptidase, beta-N- acetylglucosaminidase and phenol oxidase). Our results indicate that, although stream size, community type, and the local physical environment are potentially important covariates, these "rapid" protocols for characterizing periphyton function responded well to variations in phosphorus concentrations and in combination may serve as robust indicators of nutrient demand in agriculturally impaired streams.

Steven Rier (Primary Presenter/Author), Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, srier@commonwealthu.edu;


Jennifer Soohy (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Bloomsburg University, jat18435@huskies.bloomu.edu;


Corey Conville (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Bloomsburg University, cjc37025@huskies.bloomu.edu;


Aaron Gordon-Weaver (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Bloomsburg University, amg43366@huskies.bloomu.edu;


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