https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2024.2190
Longitudinal effects of land-cover transitions on the periphyton community of a tropical stream
Submitted: 27 March 2024
Accepted: 31 May 2024
Published: 26 June 2024
Accepted: 31 May 2024
Abstract Views: 774
PDF: 219
Supplementary: 52
HTML: 38
Supplementary: 52
HTML: 38
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Our study aims to investigate the longitudinal effects of two land-cover transitions on the periphytic algal community. We utilized datasets from three different studies conducted over a 5-year interval in a tropical headwater stream. The studied stream traverses two abrupt adjacent transitions from an upstream forest to a pasture and back to a downstream forest remnant. We performed a high-spatial resolution sampling and used generalized additive models (GAMs) to capture the non-linear gradient response of algal metrics to distance from land-cover transitions. Algal biomass presented a lagged response to increased light availability along the pasture section and decreased along a shorter distance in the downstream forest. Most algal metrics presented a lagged response to transitions, with chlorophyll-a taking up to 375 m to reach the maximum values inside the pasture and up to 300 m to return to reference conditions inside the downstream forest. In the downstream forested section, diatom richness and abundance were similar to the upstream forested section but did not return to reference conditions. The results were consistent across years. Our results indicate that, while riparian forest remnants can play an important role in buffering impacts related to land-cover changes in low order streams, both the magnitude and directionality of these effects might be influenced by longitudinal effects caused by the flow of water. Riparian forest remnants can have a longitudinal effect in stream conditions, influencing environmental characteristics even over non-forested reaches, to where the forest conditions can be propagated downstream by the flow of water.
Ács É, Kiss KT, Szabó-Taylor K, Makk J, 2000. Short-term colonization sequence of periphyton on glass slides in a large river (River Danube, near Budapest). Algol Stud Arch Hydrobiol 100:135-156.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1127/algol_stud/100/2000/135
Algarte VM, Siqueira T, Landeiro VL, Rodrigues L, Bonecker CC, Rodrigues LC, et al., 2017. Main predictors of periphyton species richness depend on adherence strategy and cell size. PLoS One 12:e0181720.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181720
Allan JD, 2004. Landscapes and riverscapes: The influence of land use on stream ecosystems. Annu Rev Ecol Evol S 35:257–284.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.35.120202.110122
Atkinson CL, Cooper JT, 2016. Benthic algal community composition across a watershed: coupling processes between land and water. Aquat Ecol 50: 315-326.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-016-9580-5
Bere T, Tundisi JG, 2011. Influence of land-use patterns on benthic diatom communities and water quality in the tropical monjolinho hydrological basin, São Carlos-SP, Brazil. Water SA 37:93-102.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v37i1.64112
Bicudo CEM, Menezes M, 2005. [Gêneros de algas de águas continentais do Brasil: Chave para identificação e descrições].[Book in Portuguese]. RiMa Editora, São Carlos: 489 pp.
Bott TL, Newbold JD, 2013. Ecosystem metabolism and nutrient uptake in Peruvian headwater streams. Int Rev Hydrobiol 98:117-131.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.201201612
Bringhurst K, Jordan P, 2015. The impact on nutrient cycles from tropical forest to pasture conversion in Costa Rica. Sustain Water Resour Manag 1:3-13.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-015-0003-x
Brito EF, Moulton TP, Souza ML De, Bunn SE, 2006. Stable isotope analysis indicates microalgae as the predominant food source of fauna in a coastal forest stream, south-east Brazil. Austral Ecol 31:623-633.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2006.01610.x
Broadmeadow S, Nisbet TR, 2004. The effects of riparian forest management on the freshwater environment: A literature review of best management practice. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 8:286–305.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-8-286-2004
Bunn SE, Davies PM, Mosisch TD, 1999. Ecosystem measures of river health and their response to riparian and catchment degradation. Freshwater Biol 41:333-345.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.1999.00434.x
Calvo C, Pacheco JP, Aznarez C, Jeppesen E, Baattrup-Pedersen A, Meerhoff M, 2022. Flow pulses shape periphyton differently according to local light and nutrient conditions in experimental lowland streams. Freshwater Biol 67:1272-1286.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13916
Carvalho C, Pedreira G, de Abreu MB, 2009. [Mapeamento do uso e cobertura da terra da bacia hidrográfica do rio Guapi-Macacu, RJ].[Article in Portuguese]. Proc. XIV Brazilian Symp. de on Remote Sensing, Natal, p. 2111-2118.
Cattaneo A, Amireault MC, 1992. How artificial are artificial substrata for periphyton? J N Am Benthol Soc 11:244-256.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1467389
Chakona A, Phiri C, Chinamaringa T, Muller N, 2009. Changes in biota along a dry-land river in northwestern Zimbabwe: Declines and improvements in river health related to land use. Aquat Ecol 43:1095-1106.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-008-9222-7
Danger AR, Robson BJ, 2004. The effects of land use on leaf-litter processing by macroinvertebrates in an Australian temperate coastal stream. Aquat Sci 66:296-304.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-004-0718-5
da Silva PP, Fernandes LAC, da Mota OJL, Baptista DF, 2012. Assessment of water quality in areas of ecological economic zoning of the Guapiaçu-Macacu basin, RJ, Brazil. Rev Amb Agua 7:157-168.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4136/ambi-agua.762
Fernandes JF, Souza ALT, Tanaka MO, 2014. Can the structure of a riparian forest remnant influence stream water quality? A tropical case study. Hydrobiologia 724:175-185.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1732-1
Feijó-Lima R, Mcleay SM, Silva-Junior EF, Tromboni F, Moulton TP, Zandonà E, Thomas SA, 2018. Quantitatively describing the downstream effects of an abrupt land cover transition: buffering effects of a forest remnant on a stream impacted by cattle grazing. Inland Waters 8:294-311.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2018.1457855
Feijó-Lima R, Zandonà E, Silva BS Da, Tromboni F, Moulton TP, Thomas SA, 2019. Longitudinal dimensions of land-use impacts in riverine ecosystems. Acta Limnol Bras 31:e107.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/s2179-975x4519
Fellows CS, Clapcott JE, Udy JW, Bunn SE, Harch BD, Smith MJ, Davies PM, 2006. Benthic metabolism as an indicator of stream ecosystem health. Hydrobiologia 572:71-87.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-9001-6
Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica INPE, 2018. [Atlas dos Remanescentes Florestais da Mata Atlântica].[in Portuguese]. Technical Report 65. Mata Atlântica, São Paulo.
Garfield C, Yokota K, 2017. Comparison of algal community determination techniques : preliminary evaluation of pigment-based versus microscopic analyses. SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station. Available from: https://suny.oneonta.edu/biological-field-station/publications/2010-2019
Goss CW, Goebel PC, Sullivan SMP, 2014. Shifts in attributes along agriculture-forest transitions of two streams in central Ohio, USA. Agr Ecosyst Environ 197:106-117.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2014.07.026
Harding JS, Claassen K, Evers N, 2006. Can forest fragments reset physical and water quality conditions in agricultural catchments and act as refugia for forest stream invertebrates? Hydrobiologia 568:391-402.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0206-0
Izagirre O, Serra A, Guasch H, Elosegi A, 2009. Effects of sediment deposition on periphytic biomass, photosynthetic activity and algal community structure. Sci Total Environ 407:5694-5700.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.06.049
Jakob T, Schreiber U, Kirchesch V, Langner U, Wilhelm C, 2005. Estimation of chlorophyll content and daily primary production of the major algal groups by means of multiwavelength-excitation PAM chlorophyll fluorometry: Performance and methodological limits. Photosynth Res 83:343-361.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-005-1329-2
Johnson LT, Tank JL, Dodds WK, 2009. The influence of land use on stream biofilm nutrient limitation across eight North American ecoregions. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 66:1081-1094.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/F09-065
Koch BJ, Flecker AS, Taylor BW, Tronstad LM, Hall RO, Keep CF, Ulseth AJ, 2007. Improving the fluorometric ammonium method: matrix effects, background fluorescence, and standard additions. J N Am Benthol Soc 26:167-177.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1899/0887-3593(2007)26[167:ITFAMM]2.0.CO;2
Lorion CM, Kennedy BP, 2009. Riparian forest buffers mitigate the effects of deforestation on fish assemblages in tropical headwater streams. Ecol Appl 19:468-479.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/08-0050.1
Lourenço-Amorim C, Neres-Lima V, Moulton TP, Sasada-Sato CY, Oliveira-Cunha P, Zandonà E, 2014. Control of periphyton standing crop in an Atlantic Forest stream: The relative roles of nutrients, grazers and predators. Freshwater Biol 59:2365-2373.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12441
Machado-Silva F, Neres-Lima V, Oliveira AF, Moulton TP, 2022. Forest cover controls the nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes of rivers. Sci Total Environt 817:152784.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152784
Martina LC, Márquez J, Principe R, Gari N, Albariño R, 2014. Does grazing change algal communities from grassland and pine afforested streams? A laboratory approach. Limnologica 49:26-32.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2014.08.002
Martínez-Atencia J, Loaiza-Usuga JC, Osorio-Vega NW, Correa-Londoño G, Casamitjana-Causa M, 2020. Leaf litter decomposition in diverse silvopastoral systems in a neotropical environment. J Sustain Forest 39:710-729.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2020.1723112
Moslemi JM, Snider SB, MacNeill K, Gilliam JF, Flecker AS, 2012. Impacts of an invasive snail (Tarebia granifera) on nutrient cycling in tropical streams: The role of riparian deforestation in Trinidad, West Indies. PLoS One 7:e38806.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038806
Moulton TP, Lourenço‐Amorim C, Sasada‐Sato CY, Neres‐Lima V, Zandonà E, 2015. Dynamics of algal production and ephemeropteran grazing of periphyton in a tropical stream. Int Rev Hydrobiol 100:61-68.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.201401769
Murphy J, Riley JP, 1962. A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27:31-36.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-2670(00)88444-5
Neill C, Deegan LA, Thomas SM, Cerri CC, 2001. Deforestation for pasture alters nitrogen and phosphorus in small Amazonian streams. Ecol Appl 11:1817-1828.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2001)011[1817:DFPANA]2.0.CO;2
Neres-Lima V, Brito EF, Krsulović FAM, Detweiler AM, Hershey AE, Moulton TP, 2016. High importance of autochthonous basal food source for the food web of a Brazilian tropical stream regardless of shading. Int Rev Hydrobiol 101:132-142.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.201601851
Niyogi DK, Koren M, Arbuckle CJ, Townsend CR, 2007. Stream communities along a catchment land-use gradient: Subsidy-stress responses to pastoral development. Environ Manage 39:213-225.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-005-0310-3
Pan Y, Stevenson RJ, Hill BH, Herlihy AT, Collins GB, Stevenson RJ, et al., 2006. Using diatoms as indicators of ecological conditions in lotic systems: a regional assessment. J N Am Benthol Soc 15:481-495.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1467800
Passy SI, 2007. Diatom ecological guilds display distinct and predictable behavior along nutrient and disturbance gradients in running waters. Aquat Bot 86:171-178.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2006.09.018
Piggott JJ, Salis RK, Lear G, Townsend CR, Matthaei CD, 2015. Climate warming and agricultural stressors interact to determine stream periphyton community composition. Glob Change Biol 21:206-222.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12661
Pringle CM, 1990. Nutrient spatial heterogeneity: effects on community structure, physiognomy, and diversity of stream algae. Ecology 71:905-920.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1937362
Rutherford JC, Marsh NA, Davies PM, Bunn SE, 2004. Effects of patchy shade on stream water temperature: How quickly do small streams heat and cool? Mar Freshwater Res 55:737-748.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/MF04120
Scarsbrook MR, Halliday J, 1999. Transition from pasture to native forest land-use along stream continua: Effects on stream ecosystems and implications for restoration. New Zeal J Mar and Fresh 33:293-310.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00288330.1999.9516878
Silva-Araújo M, Silva-Junior EF, Neres-Lima V, Feijó-Lima R, Tromboni F, Lourenço-Amorim C, et al., 2020. Effects of riparian deforestation on benthic invertebrate community and leaf processing in Atlantic forest streams. Perspect Ecol Conserv 18:277-282.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2020.09.004
Souza ALT, Fonseca DG, Libório RA, Tanaka MO, 2013. Influence of riparian vegetation and forest structure on the water quality of rural low-order streams in SE Brazil. Forest Ecol Manag 298:12-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.02.022
Storey RG, Cowley DR, 1997. Recovery of three New Zealand rural streams as they pass through native forest remnants. Hydrobiologia 353:63-76.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003042425431
Suga CM, Tanaka MO, 2013. Influence of a forest remnant on macroinvertebrate communities in a degraded tropical stream. Hydrobiologia 703:203-213.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1360-1
Tanaka MO, Souza ALT de, Moschini LE, de Oliveira AK, 2016. Influence of watershed land use and riparian characteristics on biological indicators of stream water quality in southeastern Brazil. Agr Ecosyst Environ 216:333-339.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.10.016
Tonin AM, Hepp LU, Gonçalves JF, 2018. Spatial variability of plant litter decomposition in stream networks: from litter bags to watersheds. Ecosystems 21:567-581.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0169-1
Tromboni F, Dodds WK, 2017. Relationships between land use and stream nutrient concentrations in a highly urbanized tropical region of Brazil: thresholds and riparian zones. Environ Manag 60:30-40.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0858-8
Tromboni F, Lourenço-Amorim C, Neres-Lima V, Thomas SA, Silva-Araújo M, Feijó-Lima R, et al., 2019. Conversion of tropical forests to agriculture alters the accrual, stoichiometry, nutrient limitation, and taxonomic composition of stream periphyton. Int Rev Hydrobiol 104:116-126.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.201801963
Vázquez G, Aké-Castillo JA, Favila ME, 2011. Algal assemblages and their relationship with water quality in tropical Mexican streams with different land uses. Hydrobiologia 667:173-189.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0633-4
Venables WN, Ripley BD, 2002. Modern applied statistics with S. Springer, New York: 498 pp.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21706-2
von Schiller D, Martí E, Riera JL, Sabater F, 2007. Effects of nutrients and light on periphyton biomass and nitrogen uptake in Mediterranean streams with contrasting land uses. Freshwater Biol 52:891-906.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01742.x
Wood SN, 2017. Generalized additive models: an introduction with R (2nd edition). New York, Chapman and Hall/CRC: 496 pp.
Edited by
Michela Rogora, National Research Council, Water Research Institute (CNR-IRSA), Verbania Pallanza, ItalyHow to Cite
da Silva, Bruna Suelen, Eugenia Zandona, Vinicius Neres de Lima, Timothy P. Moulton, Flavia Tromboni, Steven A. Thomas, and Rafael Feijó-Lima. 2024. “Longitudinal Effects of Land-Cover Transitions on the Periphyton Community of a Tropical Stream ”. Journal of Limnology 83 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2024.2190.
Copyright (c) 2024 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Similar Articles
- Maxine A.D. Mowe, Simon M. Mitrovic, Richard P. Lim, Ambrose Furey, Darren C.J. Yeo, Tropical cyanobacterial blooms: a review of prevalence, problem taxa, toxins and influencing environmental factors , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 2 (2015)
- Monika Tarkowska-Kukuryk, Tomasz Mieczan, Effect of substrate on periphyton communities and relationships among food web components in shallow hypertrophic lake , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 71 No. 2 (2012)
- Anna C.F. Aguiar, Vinicius Neres-Lima, Timothy P. Moulton, Relationships of shredders, leaf processing and organic matter along a canopy cover gradient in tropical streams , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 77 No. 1 (2018)
- Jordi Catalan, John C. Donato Rondón, Perspectives for an integrated understanding of tropical and temperate high-mountain lakes , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 75 No. s1 (2016): Proceedings of the 6th National Congress of Limnology
- Zacarias Fresno Lopez, Tommaso Cancellario, Diego Fontaneto, Lyudmila Kamburska, Karimullah Karimullah, Robert L. Wallace, Elizabeth J. Walsh, Radoslav Smolak, A georeferenced dataset for occurrence records of the phylum Rotifera in Africa , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 82 No. s1 (2023): Georeferenced freshwater biodiversity data
- María Laura Sánchez, Gonzalo Luis Pérez, Irina Izaguirre, Haydée Pizarro, Influence of underwater light climate on periphyton and phytoplankton communities in shallow lakes from the Pampa plain (Argentina) with contrasting steady states , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 1 (2013)
- Lindsay Trottier, John Chételat, Chantal Vis, Paul B. Hamilton, Frances R. Pick, Jesse C. Vermaire, Water chemistry and periphyton biomass in the Rideau River: Have conditions changed after 24 years? , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 81 (2022)
- Elisa A.C.C. Alvim, Adriana O. Medeiros, Renan S. Rezende, José F. Gonçalves Júnior, Leaf breakdown in a natural open tropical stream , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 2 (2015)
- Pavel Beracko, Andrea Kušnírová, Michaela Partlová, Jana Ciceková, Community structure, life histories and secondary production of stoneflies in two small mountain streams with different degree of forest cover , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 75 No. 1 (2016)
- Renan S. Rezende, Patrícia R.S. Correia, José F. Gonçalves Jr, Anderson M. Santos, Organic matter dynamics in a savanna transition riparian zone: Input of plant reproductive parts increases leaf breakdown process , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 3 (2017)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
