Temporal and Spatial Patterns in Inputs and Stock of Organic Matter in Savannah Streams of Central Brazil

Chemistry Matters: High Leaf Litter Consumption Does Not Represent a Direct Increase in Shredders' Biomass

Changes in riparian vegetation can alter the input and quality of leaf litter in aquatic ecosystems, but the effects of these changes on litter fragmentation by invertebrate shredder communities in tropical streams remain poorly studied. The caddisfly genus Phylloicus Müller, 1880 (Trichoptera: Calamoceratidae) is highly abundant in Neotropical streams, representing a great part of shredder biomass, which uses the allochthonous litter as a food resource and for case-building. We investigated leaf consumption by Phylloicus sp. under different leaf conditioning (leached and unleached) and plant species (Eucalyptus grandis, Erythrina falcata, and Inga uruguensis). The effects of leaf conditioning and plant species were measured using microcosm treatments, with one free Phylloicus sp. larva per 2-l microcosm, and a decomposition control to correct for microbial decomposition. Our study suggests that phosphorus and caloric values of leaf litter are more important than leaf hardness and nitrogen in driving leaf consumption by Phylloicus sp. On the one hand, higher consumption was observed in treatment with unleached leaves than in leached leaf treatment due to higher nutrient concentration and caloric values on unleached leaves. On the other hand, Phylloicus sp. larvae preferred leached leaves for case building over unleached leaves, as leached leaves are less prone to the activity of the decomposing community, thus lowering the need for constant case renewal. Finally, high litter consumption is not necessarily converted into biomass by Phylloicus sp. larvae. In this sense, Phylloicus sp. larvae showed selectivity for resources with high caloric content for consumption and low caloric content for case-building.

Litter inputs and standing stocks in riparian zones and streams under secondary forest and managed and abandoned cocoa agroforestry systems

Background

Cocoa is an important tropical tree crop that is mainly cultivated in agroforestry systems (AFS). This system, known as cabruca in northeastern Brazil, holds promise to reconcile biodiversity conservation and economic development. However, since cocoa AFS alters forest structure composition, it can affect litter dynamics in riparian zones and streams. Thus, our objective was to determine litter inputs and standing stocks in riparian zones and streams under three types of forest: managed cocoa AFS, abandoned cocoa AFS, and secondary forest.

Methods

We determined terrestrial litter fall (TI), vertical (VI) and lateral (LI) litter inputs to streams, and litter standing stocks on streambeds (BS) in the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. Litter was collected every 30 days from August 2018 to July 2019 using custom-made traps. The litter was dried, separated into four fractions (leaves, branches, reproductive organs, and miscellaneous material) and weighed.

Results

Terrestrial litter fall was similar in all forests, ranging from 89 g m^-2 month^-1 in secondary forest (SF) to 96 g m^-2 month^-1 in abandoned cocoa AFS (AC). Vertical input were higher in AC (82 g m^-2 month^-1) and MC (69 g m^-2 month^-1) than in SF (40 g m^-2 month^-1), whereas lateral input were higher in MC (43 g m^-2 month^-1) than in AC (15 g m^-2 month^-1) and SF (24 g m^-2 month^-1). Standing stocks followed the order SF > AC > MC, corresponding to 425, 299 and 152 g m^-2. Leaves contributed most to all litter fractions in all forests. Reproductive plant parts accounted for a larger proportion in managed AFS. Branches and miscellaneous litter were also similar in all forests, except for higher benthic standing stocks of miscellaneous litter in the SF. Despite differences in the amounts of litter inputs and standing stocks among the forests, seasonal patterns in the abandoned AFS (AC) were more similar to those of the secondary forest (SF) than the managed AFS, suggesting potential of abandoned AFS to restore litter dynamics resembling those of secondary forests.

A diverse and partially cellulolytic fungal community contributes to the diet of three species of the aquatic insect Phylloicus (Trichoptera: Calamoceratidae) in Amazonian streams

Investigations on the fungal community associated with the digestive tract (DT) of insects have provided insights into the diversity of associated microorganisms and their potential roles in the interaction with their hosts. However, most studies have focused on terrestrial insects, with few studies focusing on aquatic insects in Neotropical regions. We studied fungal taxa associated with the DT of larval stages of the aquatic shredders Phylloicus amazonas, P. elektoros and P. fenestratus in the Brazilian Amazon Forest. Filamentous fungi were isolated, purified and screened for cellulolytic activity. A total of 33 fungal taxa was identified through the combination of classical and molecular taxonomy. The genus Penicillium was the most frequent in DT of Phylloicus spp. (18.75%). The occurrence of fungal taxa among hosts was quite variable, with more than half of the associated fungi being exclusive of each host species. A significant portion of the fungal community associated with each host presented cellulolytic activity (± 50%). It was concluded that the fungal community associated with Phylloicus spp. larvae consist mainly of fungal taxa from food items, which come from riparian vegetation (whose plant species are variable) or are indigenous of the aquatic ecosystems, which is the habitat of these larvae.

Composition Characteristics of Organic Matter and Bacterial Communities under the Alternanthera philoxeroide Invasion in Wetlands

The influence of Alternanthera philoxeroide (alligator weed) invasion on wetland organic matter (OM) accumulation and bacterial changes is rarely studied, but is possibly an important step for revealing the invasion mechanism. Thus, the distribution characteristics of light fraction organic carbon and nitrogen (LFOC and LFON), and heavy fractions organic carbon and nitrogen (HFOC and HFON) were analyzed. Sampling was done on two sediment depths (0–15 cm and 15–25 cm) of invaded and normal habitats of two natural wetlands and two constructed wetlands, and bacterial taxa and composition in surface sediments were also analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. In the surface sediments, the LFOC and LFON contents were significantly higher in the constructed wetlands (0.791 and 0.043 g·kg−1) than in the natural wetlands (0.500 and 0.022 g·kg−1), and the contents of the C and N fractions were also prominently higher in the invaded areas than in normal wetland habitats. The OM storage was relatively stable. Proteobacteria (55.94%), Bacteroidetes (5.74%), Acidobacteria (6.66%), and Chloroflexi (4.67%) were the dominant bacterial phyla in the wetlands. The abundance of Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes were significantly higher in the invaded areas than in the normal habitats. The relative high abundance-based coverage estimator (ACE) index in the constructed wetlands and invaded areas suggested the corresponding high bacterial diversity. The significant and positive relationship between Acidobacteria and organic nitrogen concentrations suggested their potential and positive interrelationships. This study demonstrated that the alligator weed invasion could significantly change the compositions of sediment organic matterand bacteria, thus further changing the nutrition cycle and wetland microhabitat.

Leaf litter quality drives the feeding by invertebrate shredders in tropical streams

Amazon and Cerrado-forested streams show natural fluctuations in leaf litter quantity along the time and space, suggesting a change on litter quality input. These natural fluctuations of leaf litter have repercussion on the organic matter cycling and consequently effects on leaf decomposition in forested streams. The effects of the quantity of leaf litter with contrasting traits on consumption by larvae of shredder insects from biomes with different organic matter dynamics have still been an understudied question. The Trichoptera Phylloicus spp. is a typical shredder in tropical headwater streams and keep an important role in leaf litter decomposition. Here, we assessed the consumption by shredder Phylloicus spp., from Amazonia and Cerrado biomes, on higher (Maprounea guianensis) and lower quality leaves (Inga laurina) in different proportions and quantities. Experiments were performed concomitantly in microcosms approaches, simulating Cerrado and Amazonian streams. Higher leaf consumption occurred in Cerrado microcosms. Litter quantity influenced negatively leaf consumption by shredders in Cerrado, in opposition to Amazonia, where consumption was not affected by leaf quantity. In both sites, we observed higher consumption by shredders in treatment with only M. guianensis and no difference between other treatments with mixture of leaves. In treatment with litter of I. laurina, we noted the use of substrate for case building (due to the higher leaf toughness), affecting the fragmentation process. Therefore, our results indicate that leaf litter quality drives the preference of consumption by Phylloicus larvae in Cerrado and Amazonia streams.

Patterns of litter inputs, hyphomycetes and invertebrates in a Brazilian savanna stream: a process of degradative succession

Litter breakdown is an important ecological process at the bottom of food webs in streams. Previous studies have been based only on a temporal interval of a single season, thus ignoring seasonal variation in litter input and community structure. We investigated organic matter input in a Brazilian savanna stream and the influence of its associated hyphomycetes on the invertebrate community. Organic matter input was sampled monthly and the leaves submitted to decomposition experiments. There were lower breakdown rates and higher invertebrate species richness and abundance during the dry season, which reached their maximum in July due to low stream discharge. Invertebrate composition was best explained by hyphomycetes (mainly byFlagellospora curvulaandAnguillospora filiformis). Hyphomycetes have the capacity to degrade complex compounds of litter and to rapidly absorb nutrients by growing branched filaments, thus making the leaves more favourable for consumption by invertebrates. Shredder abundance was negatively related to litter richness, indicating possible species-specific relationships. We observed a sequential process with increased leaf litter input promoting an increase in hyphomycetes biomass, which in turn favoured invertebrate density.

Plant litter dynamics in the forest-stream interface: precipitation is a major control across tropical biomes

Riparian plant litter is a major energy source for forested streams across the world and its decomposition has repercussions on nutrient cycling, food webs and ecosystem functioning. However, we know little about plant litter dynamics in tropical streams, even though the tropics occupy 40% of the Earth's land surface. Here we investigated spatial and temporal (along a year cycle) patterns of litter inputs and storage in multiple streams of three tropical biomes in Brazil (Atlantic forest, Amazon forest and Cerrado savanna), predicting major differences among biomes in relation to temperature and precipitation regimes. Precipitation explained most of litter inputs and storage, which were generally higher in more humid biomes (litterfall: 384, 422 and 308 g m-2 y-1, storage: 55, 113 and 38 g m-2, on average in Atlantic forest, Amazon and Cerrado, respectively). Temporal dynamics varied across biomes in relation to precipitation and temperature, with uniform litter inputs but seasonal storage in Atlantic forest streams, seasonal inputs in Amazon and Cerrado streams, and aseasonal storage in Amazon streams. Our findings suggest that litter dynamics vary greatly within the tropics, but point to the major role of precipitation, which contrasts with the main influence of temperature in temperate areas.