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Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

When and how much a non-native tree species changes the temporal patterns and biomass of litterfall input in subtropical streams

Lucas Eugenio Fontana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9295-380X A * , Cristiane Biasi B , Rozane Maria Restello B , Luiz Ubiratan Hepp C and Mauricio Mello Petrucio A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, CEP 88040-900 Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

B Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das Missões, Avenida Sete de Setembro, 1621, CEP 99709-910 Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

C Laboratório de Indicadores Ambientais, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campus Três Lagoas, CEP 79613-000, Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.


Handling Editor: Max Finlayson

Marine and Freshwater Research 73(7) 931-939 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF21173
Submitted: 11 June 2021  Accepted: 11 April 2022   Published: 19 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context: In headwater streams, allochthonous litterfall input is an essential process to maintain the ecosystem functioning. The presence of non-native species in the riparian vegetation, with phenological characteristics distinct from those of most native tree species, can alter this process.

Aims: We evaluated the effect of the phenology of a non-native species (Hovenia dulcis) on the temporal patterns and biomass of litterfall input into streams by comparing one stream with (Hovenia stream) and another without (Native stream) H. dulcis in their riparian vegetation.

Methods: We quantified the litterfall input from native tree species and H. dulcis for 1 year by using buckets suspended above the streambeds.

Key results: The temporal pattern of litterfall input changed between streams, with quantitative differences between them during autumn and winter. In the Native stream, litterfall input was slightly higher in spring (∼79 g m−2 month−1), followed by winter (∼68 g m−2 month−1) and autumn (∼54 g m−2 month−1), whereas in the Hovenia stream, it was concentrated in autumn (∼126 g m−2 month−1).

Conclusions and implications: Our results indicated that the presence of H. dulcis in the riparian vegetation, when in high density, changes the temporal pattern and biomass of litterfall input into subtropical streams.

Keywords: Atlantic Forest, coarse particulate, exotic species, Japanese raisin tree, non-native plant species, riparian zone, stream functioning, tree invasions.


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