Temporal patterns of grazer-periphyton interactions in laboratory streams

SUMMARY. 1. The snail Juga silicuta (500 m^?2) and the caddisfly Dicosmoecus gilvipes (50 m^?2) were introduced into separate laboratory streams on days 1, 9, 16 and 28 of algal development. The mayfly Baetis spp. (500 m^?2) was introduced on days 1 and 16, and two streams did not receive grazers. We assessed the interaction between succession in the pcriphyton, herbivore type and time of encounter in a 40-day experiment. 2. In ungrazed streams, the chlorophyte Scenedesmus obliquus was the most abundant early colonizer. The relative abundance of diatoms increased after day 9, and at day 40 the algal assemblage consisted of a thick mat of diatoms and S. obliquus with an overstorey of filaments of the chlorophyte Stigeoclonium tenue. In general, introductions of grazers at any stage altered this pattern by removing biomass, accelerating the replacement of S. obliquus by diatoms, and suppressing the growth of filaments. Grazing also reduced the relative abundance of the larger diatom Nitzschia oregona but increased the relative abundance of the smaller adnate diatoms Nitzschia frustulum var. perpusilla and Navicula minima. 3. Dicosmoecus decreased algal biomass and altered successional trajectories to a greater degree than either Juga or Baetis. Dicosmoecus rapidly grazed the entire substrate, whereas Juga and Baetis only cleared patches in the assemblages. Little alteration in algal development was observed in the Baetis streams after day 16, probably because (he periphyton assemblages attained a size and structure that prevented effective grazing by Baetis. 4. The patchy grazing patterns of Juga and Baetis resulted in more diverse algal assemblages than either the Dicosmoecus grazed or ungrazed streams. In natural streams, the temporal and spatial pattern of grazing relative to the developmental stage of the periphyton may contribute to maintaining a mosaic of algal patches in different serai stages.