2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
5/25/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | NITROGEN PROCESSING BY PRIMARY CONSUMERS ALONG AN URBANIZATION GRADIENT IN ANDEAN STREAMS | Virtual Platform
NITROGEN PROCESSING BY PRIMARY CONSUMERS ALONG AN URBANIZATION GRADIENT IN ANDEAN STREAMS
Urbanization implies permanent alterations in streams such as the depletion/loss of keystone species associated with ecosystem functions. Amongst the southern Ecuadorian Andes, we assessed the effects of urbanization on N processing by primary consumers in streams of a highly populated watershed. We quantify the Delta N (?15N) of scraper invertebrates as primary consumers, the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in water, the benthic biofilm biomass, and the density of scraper invertebrates. Delta N of primary consumers decreased along the urbanization gradient while DIN and benthic biofilm biomass increased. No scraper invertebrates were found in the most urbanized streams. Our results suggest that the absence of primary consumers in the most urbanized streams is altering the N transformation impacting ecosystem functioning in Andean streams. Conserving and restoring riparian forests, as well as substrate and streamflow conditions, could provide a nature-based management approach to sustain nutrient processing and food webs in headwaters.
- Nutrient cycling
- Urban streams
- Stressor
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Presenters/Authors
Carlos Iñiguez Armijos
(), Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador, cainiguez@utpl.edu.ec;
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