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Effects of litter exclusion and wood removal on phosphorus and nitrogen retention in a forest stream

Formally Refereed

Abstract

Many studies in the past have shown indirect evidence of the importance of terrestrial detritus in woodland streams, but recently Wallace et al. (1997b) eliminated leaf and wood inputs to a small stream and directly demonstrated the importance of this material to stream food webs. Additionally, this whole-stream experiment has shown that terrestrial detritus is more than just food for inverrebrates. Tank and Webster (1998) found accelerated wood biofilm development and wood decomposition in the litter exclusion stream, and Meyer et al. (1998) used the litter exclusion experiment to estimate that leaves contribute approximately 30% of dissolved organic carbon exports. Previous studies have also suggested that leaf litter in streams is important to nutrient retention (Mulholland et al. 1985, Elwood et al. 1988). The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of litter exclusion and wood removal on retention of dissolved nutrients.

Citation

Webster, J. R.; Tank, J. L.; Wallace, J. B.; Meyer, J. L.; Eggert, S. L.; Ehrman, T. P.; Ward, B. R.; Bennett, B. L.; Wagner, P. F.; McTammany, M. E. 2000. Effects of litter exclusion and wood removal on phosphorus and nitrogen retention in a forest stream. Verb. International Verein. Limnol. 27:1337-1340 November 2000
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/9349