COLONIZATION OF FRESH AND DRIED LEAF-LITTER BY LOTIC MACROINVERTEBRATES

The macroinvertebrate colonisation of fresh and air-dried alder leaves was compared in a third order stream using standardised leaf packs. R esults were analysed in terms of numbers and biomass of invertebrates, at three levels of resolution: total invertebrates, the shredder func tional feeding group, and a selected taxon, the stonefly Protonemura, which was the dominant shredder in the system. Analyses of variance an d covariance revealed no significant differences between fresh and dri ed litter in either densities or biomass of the associated fauna at an y of the three levels examined. The taxonomic composition and the dive rsity of animal assemblages were also similar between treatments. It i s thus concluded that colonisation patterns of lotic macroinvertebrate s on leaf litter are unaffected by artificial drying of leaves.