Patterns of macroinvertebrate colonization on fresh and senescent alder leaves in two Michigan streams

Abstract

SUMMARY. Communities of invertebrates colonizing senescent autumn and fresh summer alder leaves (Alnus rugosa) were compared. Leaf packs for each treatment were placed in two hardwater streams in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in late summer and early autumn. One stream has a cobble‐bottom and the other a sand‐bottom and both receive fresh leaf inputs by beaver fellings. Fresh leaf packs remained intact after 26 days immersion, but thereafter were processed faster than were the autumn leaf packs in both streams. In the cobble‐bottom stream taxon richness ( S ), numbers of individuals and biomass were higher on fresh than on autumn leaves. Fresh leaves in the sand‐bottom stream supported a more diverse ( H' ), richer ( S ) and more equitably distributed ( J' ) insect fauna than did the autumn leaves. We discuss the simultaneous lack of fresh leaf loss and the presence of more complex insect communities on those leaves during the first 26 days of the study. Invertebrates in both mid‐latitude heterotrophic streams and in tropical lowland wet forest streams may rely on fresh leaf inputs, which have received little attention.