Environmental Patchiness and the Breakdown of Leaf Litter in a Woodland Stream
1974
Reice, Seth R.
The breakdown of allochthonous leaf litter in woodland streams occurs at the community level process which is patchily distributed. Two kinds of environmental patches were tested: types of bottom sediment and sizes of leaf pack. Four sediments, aligned along parallel environmental gradients (velocity and sediment complexity), were studied: rock, gravel, sand, and silt. Five pack sizes were studied: 1, 5, 10, 20, and 40 g. Preweighed packs of white ash (Fraxinus americana) leaflets were tied to bricks and set on the sediments. These were sampled weekly for 6 wk, and the percent dry weight lost was determined. This design was followed in each of the four seasons to test the seasonal variability in leaf litter breakdown. Analysis of variance and comparison of means show that, in all seasons, sediment and pack—size effects are highly significant (P < .001). Leaf packs of all sizes were broken down less in the silt than in the other sediments. The sediment patterns are consistent with the community level effects of physical heterogeneity and stability. Though the pack—size effects were highly variable from season to season, the degree of breakdown differentiated the leaf—pack sizes in every season, at least one size displaying major differences from the others. The seasonal patterns in breakdown reflect its temperature dependence, the breakdown increasing with increasing temperature. The community level process of leaf litter breakdown in streams is patchily distributed in space. This suggests a level of organization between the population and the community, namely the patch—specific component community.
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