Trophic relations and functional group composition of benthic insects in three cold desert streams

The food habits of the aquatic insects from three cold desert streams were determined. Detritivores were the dominant organisms in all streams, amounting to 55, 65, and 63% of the insect taxa in Douglas Creek, Snively Springs, and Rattlesnake Springs, respectively. Collecting (gathering and filterin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southwestern naturalist 1989-12, Vol.34 (4), p.478-482
Main Authors: Gaines, W.L. (U.S. Forest Service, Twisp Ranger District, Twisp, WA), Cushing, C.E, Smith, S.D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
AMBIENTE ACUATICO
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT
Autoecology
BENTHOS
BENTOS
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Carnivores
COMPORTEMENT ALIMENTAIRE
COURS D'EAU
Creeks
CURSOS DE AGUA
DENSIDAD DE LA POBLACION
DENSITE DE POPULATION
DESERT
DESERTS
DESIERTOS
DETRITIVORES
DOMINANT SPECIES
ESPECE DOMINANTE
ESPECIES DOMINANTES
FEEDING HABITS
Food
Functional groups
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
HABITOS ALIMENTARIOS
HERBIVORE
HERBIVORES
HERBIVOROS
INSECTE
INSECTOS
INSECTS
MILIEU AQUATIQUE
NIVEAU TROPHIQUE
NIVELES TROFICOS
POPULATION DENSITY
Predators
Protozoa. Invertebrata
RIVERS
Taxa
TROPHIC LEVELS
WASHINGTON
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The food habits of the aquatic insects from three cold desert streams were determined. Detritivores were the dominant organisms in all streams, amounting to 55, 65, and 63% of the insect taxa in Douglas Creek, Snively Springs, and Rattlesnake Springs, respectively. Collecting (gathering and filtering) was the major feeding strategy employed, and we inferred that detritus in the form of fine particulate organic matter is the major food source in small, headwater cold desert streams.
ISSN:0038-4909
1943-6262
DOI:10.2307/3671505