The Annual Pattern and Spatial Distribution of Aquatic Oxygen Metabolism in Boreal Forest Watersheds
Naiman RJ. 1983. The Annual Pattern and Spatial Distribution of Aquatic Oxygen Metabolism in Boreal Forest Watersheds. Ecological Monographs. 53(1):73-94
The level and diversity of metabolism in lotic ecosystems are largely functions of channel geomorphology and hydrology, making the site-specific studies difficult to extrapolate to other parts of the watershed. This paper describes the pattern and distribution of aquatic oxygen metabolism for undisturbed boreal forest watersheds in eastern Quebec, Canada. Metabolism by periphyton, mosses, macrophytes, fine particulate organic matter (FPOM: 0.5um-1mm), and coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM: >1mm) was examined during the ice-free period (April to November) of 1979 and 1980 in First Choice Creek (first order; watershed area; 0.25 km2), Beaver Creek (second order; 1.83 km2), Muskrat River (fifth order; 207 km2), Matamek River (sixth order; 673 km2), and the Moisie River (ninth order; 19871 km2). Results demonstrate that the River Continuum Concept can be extended to the watershed level by combining biological measurements with geomorphological analyses of the drainage network, thus allowing a detailed description of spatial and temporal patterns for specific metabolic components and total ecosystem metabolism to be constructed.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Naiman, Robert
- Units
- VOYA
- Keywords
- detritus, Ecosystem, Geomorphology, macrophytes, Metabolism, Mosses, Periphyton, stream order, Watershed