Original paper
Community respiration in hyporheic sediments of a mountain stream (Steina, Black Forest)
Pusch, Martin; Schwoerbel, Jürgen
Archiv für Hydrobiologie Volume 130 Number 1 (1994), p. 35 - 52
61 references
published: Mar 4, 1994
DOI: 10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/130/1994/35
ArtNo. ESP141013001001, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
Community respiration in hyporheic sediments (HCR) was studied in the Steina, a third-order mountain stream in southern Germany. A portable device was developed to simulate unidirectional flow of water through quasi-natural sediment samples. Sediments incubated in the hyporheic zone contained a mean of 11.1 g of paniculate organic matter (POM) and 522 individuals of macro- and meiofauna, corresponding to a biomass of 8.6 mg per dm3 of sediment. HCR amounted to 0.33 mg O2dm-3h-1, 95.7 % of which could be attributed to organisms < 100 µm. the mean hcr activity per unit area of stream bed was similar to epibenthic respiration activity reponed from comparable streams. thus, total sediment respiration of streams with hyporheic zones is apparently much higher than previously estimated. temperature and protein content of pom loosely associated with sediments (la-pom) were the best predictors of hcr, accounting for 76 % of the variance of hcr. total pom accounted for only a minor proponion of hcr variation. pom turnover rates were higher in summer than in winter and they averaged 0.16yr-1. Increases in HCR and other parameters observed during this 16-month study were probably due to recovery of hyporheic sediments following a severe spate.
Keywords
respiration • macrofauna • meiofauna • epibenthic • Steina • Germany