Riparian vegetation is an often ignored yet critical source of nutrition for riparian food webs. Many food webs are supported at their base by the breakdown and incorporation of leaf litter into fungi, insects, etc. In headwater streams, riparian leaf litter inputs provide essential subsidies that fuel in-stream productivity, in addition to subsidizing food chains of terrestrial riparian habitats. Research in this area addresses how plant community composition and other factors influence the delivery of detritus from riparian forests to headwater stream ecosystems.
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Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Terrestrial Ecosystems Laboratory (FRESC)
Below are publications associated with this project.
Riparian soil nitrogen cycling and isotopic enrichment in response to a long-term salmon carcass manipulation experiment
Riparian soil development linked to forest succession above and below dams along the Elwha River, Washington, USA
Combined use of isotopic and hydrometric data to conceptualize ecohydrological processes in a high-elevation tropical ecosystem
Riparian litter inputs to streams in the central Oregon Coast Range
Interactions of tissue and fertilizer nitrogen on decomposition dynamics of lignin-rich conifer litter
δ15N patterns of Douglas-fir and red alder riparian forests in the Oregon Coast Range
- Overview
Riparian vegetation is an often ignored yet critical source of nutrition for riparian food webs. Many food webs are supported at their base by the breakdown and incorporation of leaf litter into fungi, insects, etc. In headwater streams, riparian leaf litter inputs provide essential subsidies that fuel in-stream productivity, in addition to subsidizing food chains of terrestrial riparian habitats. Research in this area addresses how plant community composition and other factors influence the delivery of detritus from riparian forests to headwater stream ecosystems.
Click here to return to FRESC Terrestrial Ecosystems Laboratory.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Terrestrial Ecosystems Laboratory (FRESC)
Research in our laboratory centers on the ecology and biogeochemistry of forest ecosystems, as well as grassland and riparian systems. We examine how factors such as natural and human disturbances, climate and climate change, succession, and soil fertility shape ecosystem biogeochemistry - and the reciprocal effect of biogeochemical cycles on these and other factors. - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Riparian soil nitrogen cycling and isotopic enrichment in response to a long-term salmon carcass manipulation experiment
Pacific salmon acquire most of their biomass in the ocean before returning to spawn and die in coastal streams and lakes, thus providing subsidies of marine‐derived nitrogen (MDN) to freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Recent declines in salmon abundance have raised questions of whether managers should mitigate for losses of salmon MDN subsidies. To test the long‐term importance of salmon subsiAuthorsMegan Feddern, Gordon W. Holtgrieve, Steven Perakis, Julia A. Hart, Hyejoo Ro, Tom QuinnRiparian soil development linked to forest succession above and below dams along the Elwha River, Washington, USA
Riparian forest soils can be highly dynamic, due to frequent fluvial disturbance, erosion, and sediment deposition, but effects of dams on riparian soils are poorly understood. We examined soils along toposequences within three river segments located upstream, between, and downstream of two dams on the Elwha River to evaluate relationships between riparian soil development and forest age, successiAuthorsLaura G Perry, Patrick B. Shafroth, Steven PerakisCombined use of isotopic and hydrometric data to conceptualize ecohydrological processes in a high-elevation tropical ecosystem
Few high-elevation tropical catchments worldwide are gauged and even fewer are studied using combined hydrometric and isotopic data. Consequently, we lack information needed to understand processes governing rainfall-runoff dynamics and to predict their influence on downstream ecosystem functioning. To address this need, we present a combination of hydrometric and water stable isotopic observationAuthorsGiovanny M Mosquera, Rolando Celleri, Patricio X Lazo, Kellie B Vache, Steven Perakis, Patricio CrespoRiparian litter inputs to streams in the central Oregon Coast Range
Riparian-zone vegetation can influence terrestrial and aquatic food webs through variation in the amount, timing, and nutritional content of leaf and other litter inputs. We investigated how riparian-forest community composition, understory density, and lateral slope shaped vertical and lateral litter inputs to 16 streams in the Oregon Coast Range. Riparian forests dominated by deciduous red alderAuthorsStephanie K. Hart, David E. Hibbs, Steven S. PerakisInteractions of tissue and fertilizer nitrogen on decomposition dynamics of lignin-rich conifer litter
High tissue nitrogen (N) accelerates decomposition of high-quality leaf litter in the early phases of mass loss, but the influence of initial tissue N variation on the decomposition of lignin-rich litter is less resolved. Because environmental changes such as atmospheric N deposition and elevated CO2 can alter tissue N levels within species more rapidly than they alter the species composition of eAuthorsSteven S. Perakis, Joselin J. Matkins, David E. Hibbsδ15N patterns of Douglas-fir and red alder riparian forests in the Oregon Coast Range
We used naturally occurring stable isotopes of N to compare N dynamics in near-stream and upslope environments along riparian catenas in N-fixing red alder (Alnus rubra) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests in the Coast Range of western Oregon. Based on the existing literature, we expected soil δ15N to be enriched closer to streams owing to inputs of isotopically heavy, marine-derived NAuthorsE.E. Scott, S.S. Perakis, D.E. Hibbs