Land use influences macroinvertebrate community composition in boreal headwaters through altered stream conditions.

ABSTRACT: Land use is known to alter the nature of land-water interactions, but the potential effects of widespread forest management on headwaters in boreal regions remain poorly understood. We evaluated the importance of catchment land use, land cover, and local stream variables for macroinvertebrate community and functional trait diversity in 18 boreal headwater streams. Variation in macroinvertebrate metrics was often best explained by in-stream variables, primarily water chemistry (e.g. pH). However, variation in stream variables was, in turn, significantly associated with catchment-scale forestry land use. More specifically, streams running through catchments that were dominated by young (11-50 years) forests had higher pH, greater organic matter standing stock, higher abundance of aquatic mos

SUBMITTER: Jonsson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5347524 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature