Authors: Daniel E Schindler Adrianne P Smits
Publish Date: 2016/10/13
Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 78-93
Abstract
Floods spatially complex water flows and organism movements all generate important fluxes of aquaticderived materials into terrestrial habitats counteracting the gravitydriven downhill transport of matter from terrestrialtoaquatic ecosystems The magnitude of these aquatic subsidies is often smaller than terrestrial subsidies to aquatic ecosystems but higher in nutritional quality energy density and nutrient concentration The lateral extent of biological aquatic subsidies is typically small extending only a few meters into riparian habitat however terrestrial consumers often aggregate on shorelines to capitalize on these highquality resources Although the ecological effects of aquatic subsidies remain partially understood it is clear that ongoing human modification to aquatic ecosystems riparian habitats and river floodplains affect the magnitude quality and spatial and temporal patterning of aquatic subsidies in terrestrial landscapes These changes will alter the character of aquatic–terrestrial coupling and have consequences for terrestrial organisms that rely on these highquality and temporally dependable resource subsidies Homogenization of landscapes and flow regimes eutrophication exotic species and contaminants all represent threats to the vital flows of aquaticderived resources into terrestrial ecosystems Research emphasizing that landscapes are integrated terrestrial–aquatic systems characterized by both biological and hydrological flows among habitats is needed for understanding the consequences of aquatic subsidies and managing ecological risks of ongoing human development
Keywords: