Seasonal dynamics of moss-dwelling chironomid communities

Chironomid communities of mosses in a small upland stream in central Germany were highly dynamic across the year with respect to their abundance, biomass and dominant taxa. During 1988 semi-submersed mosses near a main spring and those occurring some 700 m downstream were compared with permanently submersed mosses in immediate vicinity of the downstream site. All the chironomids sampled were conspicuously small, with nearly 98% being less than 5 mm in length. A total of 65 chironomid species from 26 genera were found, with a higher diversity occurring near the source and a change in dominant taxa along the upper stream section. The mean abundance in permanently submersed mosses (250 larvae/10 cm², n = 125) was about five times higher than in semi-submersed mosses. The maximum value of 830 larvae/10 cm² (n = 1) is the highest chironomid density ever reported, which is explained by the sampling method used. The mean standing crop was also highest in permanently submersed mosses (1.5 mg AFDW/10 cm² (n = 125)), even though the highest individual value was recorded in semi-submersed mosses near the spring (10.4 mg AFDW/10 cm²). The evidence suggested that the dominance of chironomid taxa depended mainly on the location of the moss along the stream, whereas abundance and biomass were determined mainly by constancy in the ambient discharge as well as the factors influenced by this (e.g. temperature, detritus deposition). A trend was seen towards a seasonal succession among the chironomid taxa colonizing lotic mosses.