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Science 4 July 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5322, pp. 102 - 104
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5322.102
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Reports

Multiple Trophic Levels of a Forest Stream Linked to Terrestrial Litter Inputs

J. B. Wallace, * S. L. Eggert, J. L. Meyer, J. R. Webster

The importance of terrestrial-aquatic linkages was evaluated by a large-scale, 3-year exclusion of terrestrial leaf litter inputs to a forest stream. Exclusion of leaf litter had a strong bottom-up effect that was propagated through detritivores to predators. Most invertebrate taxa in the predominant habitat declined in either abundance, biomass, or both, compared with taxa in a nearby reference stream. However, fauna in moss habitats changed little, indicating that different food webs exist in habitats of different geomorphology. Thus, the ecosystem-level consequences of excluding detrital inputs to an ecosystem were demonstrated. Inputs of riparian detritus are essential for conservation or restoration of diverse stream food webs.

J. B. Wallace, Department of Entomology and Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
S. L. Eggert, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
J. L. Meyer, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
J. R. Webster, Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wallace{at}sparc.ecology.uga.edu

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