Emerald ash borer invasion of riparian forests alters organic matter and bacterial subsidies to south Michigan headwater streams.

ABSTRACT: Emerald ash borer (EAB) has killed millions of ash trees in the United States and Canada, yet impacts on terrestrial-aquatic linkages are largely unknown. Ash tree death along streams creates canopy gaps, increasing light to riparian plants and potentially affecting organic matter subsidies. Six EAB-related canopy gaps along streams across a gradient of timing of EAB invasion in Michigan were characterized for coarse woody material (CWM), terrestrial and aquatic leaf litter and their associated bacterial communities, and macroinvertebrates upstream, downstream, and at the center of the gap. Stream sites downstream of EAB-related canopy gaps had significantly lower dissolved oxygen and macroinvertebrate diversity than sites upstream and at the gaps. Yet there was no difference in CWM or aqu

SUBMITTER: Larson CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10631550 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature