caa a22 4500 445891246 CHVBK 20180317145617.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10750-010-0455-9 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10750-010-0455-9 Over-winter decomposition and associated macroinvertebrate communities of three deciduous leaf species in forest streams on the Canadian Boreal Shield [Elektronische Daten] [Elisa Muto, David Kreutzweiser, Paul Sibley] The decomposition of deciduous leaf material provides a critical source of energy to aquatic food webs. Changes to riparian forests through harvesting practices may alter the species composition of deciduous leaf material entering streams. We compared over-winter decomposition of three different riparian leaf species (speckled alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa (Du Roi) J. Clausen), white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.)) to determine their importance as a food resource for macroinvertebrate communities within Boreal Shield streams in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Leaf pack decomposition of the three leaf species formed a processing continuum throughout winter, where alder and birch leaf packs decomposed at a medium rate (k=0.0065/day and 0.0053/day, respectively) and aspen leaf packs decomposed more slowly (k=0.0035/day). Macroinvertebrate community colonization on leaf packs changed through time regardless of leaf species. Alder leaf packs supported higher abundances of macroinvertebrates in the fall while aspen leaf packs supported greater shredder abundances in the following spring. The study shows that leaf diversity may be important for providing a sustained food resource for aquatic macroinvertebrates throughout the relatively long over-winter period in Canadian Boreal Shield streams. Riparian forest management strategies should ensure that deciduous plant species richness is sustained in riparian areas. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2010 Organic matter processing nationallicence Leaf litter nationallicence Over-winter nationallicence Boreal Shield nationallicence Muto Elisa School of Environmental Science, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, Guelph, ON, Canada aut Kreutzweiser David Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 1219 Queen Street East, P6A 5E2, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada aut Sibley Paul School of Environmental Science, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, Guelph, ON, Canada aut Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 658/1(2011-01-01), 111-126 0018-8158 658:1<111 2011 658 10750 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0455-9 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0455-9 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Muto Elisa School of Environmental Science, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, Guelph, ON, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Kreutzweiser David Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 1219 Queen Street East, P6A 5E2, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Sibley Paul School of Environmental Science, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, Guelph, ON, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 658/1(2011-01-01), 111-126 0018-8158 658:1<111 2011 658 10750 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer