Vulnerability of alpine stream biodiversity to shrinking glaciers and snowpacks

Climate change poses a considerable threat to the biodiversity of high latitude and altitude ecosystems, with alpine regions across the world already showing responses to warming. However, despite probable hydrological change as alpine glaciers and snowpacks shrink, links between alpine stream biota and reduced meltwater input are virtually unknown. Using data from the French Pyrénées, we demonstrate that taxonomic richness and total abundance of stream macroinvertebrates increase significantly as meltwater (snow melt and glacier melt) contributions to river flow decrease. Macroinvertebrate species showed a gradation of optimum meltwater conditions at which they persist. For example: Habroleptoides berthelemyi (Ephemeroptera), Perla grandis (Plecoptera) and Rhithrogena spp. (Ephemeroptera) increased in abundance when meltwater contributions to streamflow decrease, whereas in contrast, Rhyacophila angelieri (Trichoptera) and Diamesa latitarsis spp. (Diptera) decreased in abundance. Changes in alpine stream macroinvertebrate community composition as meltwater contributions decline were associated with lower suspended sediment concentration, and higher water temperature, electrical conductivity and pH. Our results suggest α diversity (at a site) of streams presently fed by meltwaters will increase with future meltwater reductions. However, β diversity (between‐sites) will be reduced as snow melt and glacier melt decrease because the habitat heterogeneity associated with spatiotemporal variability of water source contributions will become lower as meltwater contributions decline. Extinction of some endemic alpine aquatic species (such as the Pyrenean caddis fly R. angelieri) is predicted with reduced meltwater inputs, leading to decreases in γ diversity (region). Our identification of significant links between meltwater production and stream macroinvertebrate biodiversity has wider implications for the conservation of alpine river ecosystems under scenarios of climate change induced glacier and snowpack loss.     

A hydrogeomorphological context for ecological research on alpine glacial rivers

1. This paper presents a framework for the analysis of glacial stream ecosystems based upon the hierarchy of physical processes that operate over timescales varying from diel to millennial. Linked conceptual models propose interrelationships between climate, hydrology and fluvial geomorphology in alpine catchments.
2. These conceptual models are illustrated using data from the Taillon/Gabiétous catchment, French Pyrénées. Secondary sources provide information concerning the long-term sequence of climatic and geomorphological controls on contemporary catchment processes. Detailed hydrogeomorphological field data collected over three consecutive summer melt seasons (1995–97) permit identification of marked changes in shorter-term (diel, seasonal and inter-annual) physical processes.
3. Clear differences in the response of water quality and quantity variables were observed between years as climatic conditions varied. In two of the three study years, a precipitation-driven regime was imposed upon the typical ablation-driven river discharge pattern in alpine streams. Clear changes in water quality and quantity were evident with increasing distance from the glacier: (i) discharge increased although specific discharge decreased markedly, (ii) the mean and variability in water temperature increased, and (iii) base concentrations of suspended solids decreased.
4. The physical processes incorporated in the conceptual models presented in this paper have ecological implications because they underpin a nested suite of disturbance regimes operating over timescales from diel to millennial.     

Climate change and alpine stream biology: progress,challenges, and opportunities for the future

In alpine regions worldwide, climate change is dramatically altering ecosystems and affecting biodiversity in many ways. For streams, receding alpine glaciers and snowfields, paired with altered precipitation regimes, are driving shifts in hydrology, species distributions, basal resources, and threatening the very existence of some habitats and biota. Alpine streams harbour substantial species and genetic diversity due to significant habitat insularity and environmental heterogeneity. Climate change is expected to affect alpine stream biodiversity across many levels of biological resolution from micro‐ to macroscopic organisms and genes to communities. Herein, we describe the current state of alpine stream biology from an organism‐focused perspective. We begin by reviewing seven standard and emerging approaches that combine to form the current state of the discipline. We follow with a call for increased synthesis across existing approaches to improve understanding of how these imperiled ecosystems are responding to rapid environmental change. We then take a forward‐looking viewpoint on how alpine stream biologists can make better use of existing data sets through temporal comparisons, integrate remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, and apply genomic tools to refine knowledge of underlying evolutionary processes. We conclude with comments about the future of biodiversity conservation in alpine streams to confront the daunting challenge of mitigating the effects of rapid environmental change in these sentinel ecosystems.     

亚热带森林降雨季节源头溪流非木质残体钙和镁储量动态特征

森林源头溪流是联系水陆生境的重要纽带,其非木质残体(凋落叶和<1 cm的小枝)所储存的钙、镁等养分动态直接或间接调控森林生态系统物质循环与迁移等生态过程。本研究以福建三明闽江流域上游集水区森林一条典型源头溪流为对象,于2021年雨季(3—8月)监测了该溪流中非木质残体钙和镁储量的动态特征。结果表明: 降雨季节该溪流单位面积非木质残体钙、镁总储量分别为178.1～890.5 mg·m^-2、13.8～61.6 mg·m^-2。雨季溪流单位面积的非木质残体钙、镁储量呈现出先增加后减少的动态变化,整体上表现为降低趋势,在各河段整体上存在显著差异,特别是溪流源头的储量显著高于其他河段。非木质残体钙、镁储量随降雨量的增加而显著增加,随溪流碱度、温度、溶解氧的增加而显著减少。河岸米槠林与针阔混交林等植被类型变化及有无支流汇入对非木质残体钙、镁储量没有显著影响。降雨季节森林源头溪流非木质残体的钙、镁总储量随时间推移整体上减少,主要受到降雨和溪流特征的共同调控。     

景观对河流生态系统的影响

从景观的视角研究河流生态系统,是目前河流生态学中受到广泛关注且发展迅速的内容之一。流域内多尺度景观强烈影响河流的理化及生物特征,已成为共识,但有关量度、整合景观与河流生态系统二者之间联系的理论体系与方法的建立尚处于起步阶段。对景观组成与空间格局影响河流生态系统的机制与途径进行了系统总结,提出了该领域研究中的主要难题,即如何识别景观中人为因素和自然因素的协变现象,如何衡量多空间尺度景观对河流生态系统的交互影响,如何理解景观阈值的不确定性。为克服当前研究面临的困难与挑战,填补已有知识的不足,提出今后研究的重点方向:河流景观分类系统的改进;更具代表性时空数据的采集;新型景观指标的开发与应用;微观尺度数据与宏观尺度数据的整合等。     

滇西北高山微水体与溪流生境底栖动物多样性和环境特征

高山微水体由于面积微小且通过地表径流形成串联结构常常被认为与高山溪流具有类似的生境, 然而由于这两类生境中环境因子与底栖动物多样性存在差异, 它们在生态系统中的作用可能完全不同。滇西北地区是全球生物多样性热点区域之一, 境内高山微水体和高山溪流分布密集, 在区域底栖生物多样性维持方面具有重要的功能, 然而目前对这两类高山淡水生态系统的研究较少。为了比较这两类生境环境因子的异同及其对底栖动物多样性的维持作用, 2015年6月, 作者在云南省怒江州贡山县的高山峡谷内, 对27个高山微水体和同区域分布的1条高山溪流(海拔高差500 m范围)的底栖动物多样性和水环境因子进行了实地调查。结果表明: (1)高山微水体和高山溪流底栖动物群落中优势分类单元种群数量均比较庞大, 而稀有分类单元数量较多且种群较小; (2)两种生境在环境因子、物种多样性、功能多样性和群落结构方面的差异明显, 高山溪流有较高的物种丰富度、物种多样性和功能多样性; (3)高山微水体底栖动物多样性的分布与水环境因子无关, 而高山溪流底栖动物多样性与群落结构的形成受到与流速关联的水环境因子和海拔的影响。因此, 高山微水体与高山溪流不能简单地视为类似的生境类型, 它们对区域底栖动物多样性和生态功能维持可能具有不同的作用。     

城市化对河流大型底栖动物群落的影响研究进展

城市化可以引发一系列"城市溪流综合症",对河流健康造成巨大胁迫。大型底栖动物是河流生态系统的重要组成部分,对环境因子敏感,能够较好的反映流域环境的变化。城市化后,流域人口增加,建设用地比例上升,入河污染物浓度和总量增多,底栖动物中敏感物种比例降低甚至消失,寡毛类、摇蚊等耐污物种成为优势类群;群落多样性显著降低,并且一般与城市化强度成负指数关系;底栖动物总密度普遍大幅度增加,收集者为主要摄食功能群;不透水地表面积比例的增加改变了流域自然的水文过程,群落组成的季节波动减弱,但密度的波动增大;次级生产力明显增加,食物网趋于简化。初步分析了城市化过程中水质污染、水文、生境破坏、流域土地利用等因素影响底栖动物群落的规律和机制,并且根据国内外研究现状提出了进一步研究的方向,以期为我国城市河流生态学研究、流域生态管控和河流生态系统修复提供科学依据。     

Litter quality, stream characteristics and litter diversity influence decomposition rates and macroinvertebrates

1. We examined the relative importance of litter quality and stream characteristics in determining decomposition rate and the macroinvertebrate assemblage living on autumn‐shed leaves. 2. We compared the decomposition rates of five native riparian tree species (Populus fremontii, Alnus oblongifolia, Platanus wrightii, Fraxinus velutina and Quercus gambelii) across three south‐western streams in the Verde River catchment (Arizona, U.S.A.). We also compared the decomposition of three‐ and five‐species mixtures to that of single species to test whether plant species diversity affects rate. 3. Decomposition rate was affected by both litter quality and stream. However, litter quality accounted for most of the variation in decomposition rates. The relative importance of litter quality decreased through time, explaining 97% of the variation in the first week but only 45% by week 8. We also found that leaf mixtures decomposed more quickly than expected, when all the species included were highly labile or when the stream environment led to relatively fast decomposition. 4. In contrast to decomposition rate, differences in the invertebrate assemblage were more pronounced across streams than across leaf litter species within a stream. We also found significant differences between the invertebrate assemblage colonising leaf mixtures compared with that colonising pure species litter, indicating non‐additive properties of litter diversity on stream invertebrates. 5. This study shows that leaf litter diversity has the capacity to affect in‐stream decomposition rates and stream invertebrates, but that these effects depend on both litter quality and stream characteristics.     

Understorey environments influence functional diversity in tank‐bromeliad ecosystems

1. A substantial fraction of the freshwater available in neotropical forests is impounded within the rosettes of bromeliads that form aquatic islands in a terrestrial matrix. The ecosystem functioning of bromeliads is known to be influenced by the composition of the contained community but it is not clear whether bromeliad food webs remain functionally similar against a background of variation in the understorey environment. 2. We considered a broad range of environmental conditions, including incident light and incoming litter, and quantified the distribution of a very wide range of freshwater organisms (from viruses to macroinvertebrates) to determine the factors that influence the functional structure of bromeliad food webs in samples taken from 171 tank‐bromeliads. 3. We observed a gradient of detritus‐based to algal‐based food webs from the understorey to the overstorey. Algae, rotifers and collector and predatory invertebrates dominated bromeliad food webs in exposed areas, whereas filter‐feeding insects had their highest densities in shaded forest areas. Viruses, bacteria and fungi showed no clear density patterns. Detritus decomposition is mainly due to microbial activity in understorey bromeliads where filter feeders are the main consumers of microbial and particulate organic matter (POM). Algal biomass may exceed bacterial biomass in sun‐exposed bromeliads where amounts of detritus were lower but functional diversity was highest. 4. Our results provide evidence that tank‐bromeliads, which grow in a broad range of ecological conditions, promote aquatic food web diversity in neotropical forests. Moreover, although bromeliad ecosystems have been categorised as detritus‐based systems in the literature, we show that algal production can support a non‐detrital food web in these systems.     

Flow intermittency influences the trophic base,but not the overall diversity of alpine stream food webs

Alpine streams can exhibit naturally high levels of flow intermittency. However, how flow intermittency in alpine streams affects ecosystem functions such as food web trophic structure is virtually unknown. Here, we characterized the trophic diversity of aquatic food webs in 28 headwater streams of the Val Roseg, a glacierized alpine catchment. We compared stable isotope (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) trophic indices to high temporal resolution data on flow intermittency. Overall trophic diversity, food chain length and diversity of basal resource use did not differ to a large extent across streams. In contrast, gradient and mixing model analysis indicated that primary consumers assimilated proportionally more periphyton and less allochthonous organic matter in more intermittent streams. Higher coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) C:N ratios were an additional driver of changes in macroinvertebrate diets. These results indicate that the trophic base of stream food webs shifts away from terrestrial organic matter to autochthonous organic matter as flow intermittency increases, most likely due to reduced CPOM conditioning in dry streams. This study highlights the significant, yet gradual shifts in ecosystem function that occur as streamflow becomes more intermittent in alpine streams. As alpine streams become more intermittent, identifying which functional changes occur via gradual as opposed to threshold responses is likely to be vitally important to their management and conservation.     

The relative influence of diffuse- and point-source disturbances on a small upland stream in East Java,Indonesia: a preliminary investigation

The relative effects of a diffuse disturbance (alteration of land use from forest to plantation) and a point-source disturbance (a village and its associated coffee-processing plant, within the plantation) on longitudinal variation in water chemistry and macroinvertebrate community composition were assessed in Kali Dinoyo, a small upland stream in East Java, Indonesia. Four sites were sampled. The catchments of the two most-upstream sites were covered primarily by rainforest, while the two lower sites fell within a coffee plantation. The lowest site was downstream of a small village and its associated coffee-processing plant. Most of the variance in all water quality variables and in several community composition measures was explained by the difference between plantation and forest sites. Comparatively small differences in total suspended solids and macroinvertebrate community composition were observed downstream of the village. Diffuse disturbances associated with land clearance and plantation agriculture therefore appear to have a larger impact on the ecology of Kali Dinoyo than the point source impacts associated with the village. More robust and powerful study designs to formally test these findings are discussed.     

Altitudinal distribution limits of aquatic macroinvertebrates: an experimental test in a tropical alpine stream

1. Temperature and oxygen are recognised as the main drivers of altitudinal limits of species distributions. However, the two factors are linked, and both decrease with altitude, why their effects are difficult to disentangle. 2. This was experimentally addressed using aquatic macroinvertebrates; larvae of Andesiops (Ephemeroptera), Claudioperla, (Plecoptera), Scirtes (Coleoptera) and Anomalocosmoecus (Trichoptera), and the amphipod Hyalella in an Ecuadorian glacier‐fed stream (4100–4500 m a.s.l.). The following were performed: (i) quantitative benthic sampling at three sites to determine altitudinal patterns in population densities, (ii) transplants of the five taxa upstream of their natural altitudinal limit to test the short‐term (14 days) effect on survival, and (iii) in situ experiments of locomotory activity as a proxy for animal response to relatively small differences in temperature (5 °C vs. 10 °C) and oxygen saturation (55% vs. 62%). 3. The transplant experiment reduced survival to a varying degree among taxa, but Claudioperla survived well at a site where it did not naturally occur. In the in situ experiment, Scirtes and Hyalella decreased their activity at lower oxygen saturation, whereas Andesiops and Anomalocosmoecus did so at a low temperature. The decrease in activity from a high to a low temperature and oxygen for the five taxa was significantly correlated with their mortality in the transplant experiment. 4. Together the present experiments indicate that even relatively small differences in temperature and oxygen may produce effects explaining ecological patterns, and depending on the taxon, either water temperature or oxygen saturation, without clear interacting effects, are important drivers of altitudinal limits.     

城市溪流中径流式低坝对底栖动物群落结构的影响

调查了浙江省安吉县内具径流式低坝的城市溪流(6个样点)和参照溪流(3个样点)的底栖动物群落,目的是了解城市溪流底栖动物群落结构退化规律和径流式低坝(2—3 m)对城市溪流底栖动物群落组成与结构的影响。结果表明,参照样点的底质组成以大石块(35.92%)和卵石(33.66%)为主,城市溪流以砾石为主(57.97%)。城市溪流水温和电导率显著高于参照溪流,TN和TP高于参照溪流。底栖动物总分类单元数和EPT分类单元数显著低于参照溪流。城市溪流河道内水坝上下游之间的流速(P=0.273)和宽深比(P=3.92)无显著差异。坝下游水体中的TP高于坝上游,电导率、溶解氧、pH值和水温在坝上下游之间几乎一致。除BI指数坝下游高于坝上游外,坝上下游间底栖动物总分类单元数、EPT分类单元数以及多样性指数、优势度和均匀度指数没有显著差异。但坝下游的耐污类群比例显著高于坝上游,敏感类群比例则显著低于坝上游。与坝上游相比,坝下游捕食者比例上升和集食者比例下降。NMDS结果进一步表明,城市溪流内水坝的建设导致坝上下游底栖动物群落物种组成明显改变。     

Context-dependent effects of freshwater mussels on stream benthic communities

1. We asked whether unionid mussels influence the distribution and abundance of co‐occurring benthic algae and invertebrates. In a yearlong field enclosure experiment in a south‐central U.S. river, we examined the effects of living mussels versus sham mussels (shells filled with sand) on periphyton and invertebrates in both the surrounding sediment and on mussel shells. We also examined differences between two common unionid species, Actinonaias ligamentina (Lamarck 1819) and Amblema plicata (Say 1817). 2. Organic matter concentrations and invertebrate densities in the sediment surrounding mussels were significantly higher in treatments with live mussels than treatments with sham mussels or sediment alone. Organic matter was significantly higher in the sediment surrounding Actinonaias than that surrounding Amblema. Actinonaias was more active than Amblema and may have increased benthic organic matter through bioturbation. 3. Living mussels increased the abundance of periphyton on shells and the abundance and richness of invertebrates on shells, whereas effects of sham mussels were similar to sediment alone. Differences in the amount of periphyton growing on the shells of the two mussel species reflected differences in mussel activity and shell morphology. 4. Differences between living and sham mussel treatments indicate that biological activities of mussels provide ecosystem services to the benthic community beyond the physical habitat provided by shells alone. In treatments containing live mussels we found significant correlations between organic matter and chlorophyll a concentrations in the sediment, organic matter concentrations and invertebrate abundance in the sediment and the amount of chlorophyll a on the sediment and invertebrate abundance. There were no significant correlations among these response variables in control treatments. Thus, in addition to providing biogenic structure as habitat, mussels likely facilitate benthic invertebrates by altering the availability of resources (algae and organic matter) through nutrient excretion and biodeposition. 5. Effects of mussels on sediment and shell periphyton concentrations, organic matter concentrations and invertebrate abundance, varied seasonally, and were strongest in late summer during periods of low water volume, low flow, and high water temperature. 6. Our study demonstrates that freshwater mussels can strongly influence the co‐occurring benthic community, but that effects of mussels are context‐dependent and may vary among species.     

Resource quality and stoichiometric constraints on stream ecosystem functioning

1. Resource quality and stoichiometric imbalances in carbon : nutrient ratios between consumers and resources can influence key ecosystem processes. In many streams, this has important implications for food webs that are based largely upon the utilization of terrestrial leaf‐litter, which varies widely among litter types in its value as a food source for detritivores and as a substrate for microbial decomposers. 2. We measured breakdown rates and macroinvertebrate colonization of leaf‐litter from a range of native and exotic plants of differing resource quality and palatability to consumers [e.g. carbon : nitrogen : phosphorus (C : N : P) ratios, lignin and cellulose content], in a field experiment. We also measured C : N : P ratios of the principal leaf‐shredding invertebrates, which revealed strong stoichiometric imbalances across trophic levels: C : N and C : P ratios typically differed by at least one order of magnitude between consumers and resources, whereas N : P imbalances were less marked. Application of the threshold elemental ratio approach, which integrates animal bioenergetics and body elemental composition in examining nutrient deficiency between consumers and resources, revealed less marked C : P imbalances than those based on the simpler arithmetic differences described above. 3. Litter breakdown rates declined as nutrient imbalances widened and resource quality fell, but they were independent of whether resources were exotic or native. The principal drivers of total, microbial and invertebrate‐mediated breakdown rates were lignin : N, lignin : P and fungal biomass, respectively. However, multiple regression using orthogonal predictors yielded even more efficient models of litter breakdown, as consumers responded to more than one aspect of resource quality. For example, fungal biomass and litter C : N both influenced invertebrate‐mediated breakdown. 4. Large stoichiometric imbalances and changes in resource quality are likely to have serious consequences for stream ecosystem functioning, especially when riparian zones have been invaded by exotic plant species whose chemical composition differs markedly from that of the native flora. Consequently, the magnitude and direction of change in breakdown rates and, thus, resource depletion, will be driven to a large extent by the biochemical traits (rather than taxonomic identity per se) of the resident and invading flora.     

Missing effects of anthropogenic nutrient deposition on sentinel alpine ecosystems

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition affects unproductive remote alpine and circumpolar ecosystems, which are often considered sentinels of global change. Human activities and forest fires can also elevate phosphorus (P) deposition, possibly compounding the ecological effects of increased N deposition given the ubiquity of nutrient co‐limitation of primary producers. Low N : P ratios coupled with evidence of NP‐limitation from bioassays led us to hypothesize that P indirectly stimulates phytoplankton by amplifying the direct positive effect of N (i.e. serial N‐limitation) in alpine ponds. We tested the hypothesis using the first replicated N × P enrichment experiment conducted at the whole‐ecosystem level, which involved 12 alpine ponds located in the low N deposition backcountry of the eastern Front Range of the Canadian Rockies. Although applications of N and P elevated ambient N and P concentrations by 2–5×, seston and plankton remained relatively unaffected in the amended ponds. However, additions of ammonium nitrate elevated the δ¹⁵N signals of both primary producers and herbivores (fairy shrimp; Anostraca), attesting to trophic transfer of N deposition to consumers. Further, in situ bioassays revealed that grazing by high ambient densities of fairy shrimp together with potential competition from algae lining the pond bottoms suppressed the otherwise serially N‐limited response by phytoplankton. Our findings highlight how indirect effects of biotic interactions rather the often implicit direct effects of chemical changes can regulate the sensitivities of extreme ecosystems to nutrient deposition.     

Effects of the Tropical Freshwater Shrimp Caridina weberi (Atyidae) on Leaf Litter Decomposition1

Effects of feeding by atyid shrimp, Caridina weberi, on the rate of decomposition of leaf litter were studied in the Opunohu River, Moorea, French Polynesia. In a laboratory feeding experiment shrimp consumed microbially conditioned Hibiscus leaves, but in a field study shrimp did not affect the rate of decomposition of leaf litter. In this system, the rate of decomposition was influenced more by water discharge or by microbial activity than by shrimp.     

Pacific salmon effects on stream ecosystems: a quantitative synthesis

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) disturb sediments and fertilize streams with marine-derived nutrients during their annual spawning runs, leading researchers to classify these fish as ecosystem engineers and providers of resource subsidies. While these processes strongly influence the structure and function of salmon streams, the magnitude of salmon influence varies widely across studies. Here, we use meta-analysis to evaluate potential sources of variability among studies in stream ecosystem responses to salmon. Results obtained from 37 publications that collectively included 79 streams revealed positive, but highly inconsistent, overall effects of salmon on dissolved nutrients, sediment biofilm, macroinvertebrates, resident fish, and isotopic enrichment. Variation in these response variables was commonly influenced by salmon biomass, stream discharge, sediment size, and whether studies used artificial carcass treatments or observed a natural spawning run. Dissolved nutrients were positively related to salmon biomass per unit discharge, and the slope of the relationship for natural runs was five to ten times higher than for carcass additions. Mean effects on ammonium and phosphorus were also greater for natural runs than carcass additions, an effect attributable to excretion by live salmon. In contrast, we observed larger positive effects on benthic macroinvertebrates for carcass additions than for natural runs, likely because disturbance by live salmon was absent. Furthermore, benthic macroinvertebrates and biofilm associated with small sediments (<32 mm) displayed a negative response to salmon while those associated with large sediments (>32 mm) showed a positive response. This comprehensive analysis is the first to quantitatively identify environmental and methodological variables that influence the observed effects of salmon. Identifying sources of variation in salmon–stream interactions is a critical step toward understanding why engineering and subsidy effects vary so dramatically over space and time, and toward developing management strategies that will preserve the ecological integrity of salmon streams. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Hydrologic versus geomorphic limitation on CPOM storage in stream ecosystems

1. Stream ecosystems are the products of interactions between hydrology, geomorphology and ecology, but examining all three components simultaneously is difficult and rarely attempted. Frequently, either geomorphology or hydrology is treated as invariable or static. 2. To examine the validity of treating either hydrology or geomorphology as static, we studied the individual and combined effects of hydrology and channel geomorphology on coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) storage. Using data from an experimental leaf release in a hydrologically regulated stream we created a simple numerical model. This allowed us to quantify the relative influence of CPOM trapping and CPOM retention on total long‐term CPOM storage under variable regimes of flood frequency and geomorphic structure. 3. CPOM storage is a function of supply, flood frequency and the type and frequency of in‐stream structures. In‐stream structures perform two distinct functions, trapping and retention, whose relative importance in leaf storage changes with stream hydrology. Trapping is more important for CPOM storage in streams with few floods, while retention is more important in streams with frequent floods. Different structures (e.g. boulders, large wood, small wood) perform these functions at different efficiencies. We found that large wood trapped two to three times more leaves than the bank, but that the bank retained leaves two to three times more efficiently. 4. A modelled channel with five times the amount of large wood as the study channel (a ‘wood restoration’) initially stored 14% more leaves than the modelled ‘natural’ channel. After six floods, however, the modelled wood restoration channel stored 50% less CPOM than the natural channel as the large wood had high trapping but poor retention. The modelled natural channel contained structures that could both trap and retain. Thus, as different structures performed different functions, the structural complexity buffered the stream allochthonous energy base against changes in hydrology through its balance of trapping and retention. 5. As the frequency of floods increased, the spatial distribution of CPOM became increasingly patchy as storage was driven entirely by structures with high retention. Thus, the coupling of flood frequency and geomorphic structure influenced CPOM availability, which in turn has ramifications for the entire stream food web.