Spatial and Temporal Variations of Detritus Breakdown Rates in the River Flumendosa Basin (Sardinia, Italy)
✍ Scribed by Alessio Fonnesu; Maurizio Pinna; Alberto Basset
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2004
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 151 KB
- Volume
- 89
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1434-2944
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Here we analyse in a 5^th^ order Mediterranean river (River Flumendosa, Sardinia, Italy) spatial and temporal variations of plant detritus processing, a key functional aspect of river ecosystems. Decay rates of dead leaves (Phragmites australis) were studied during the fall‐winter and spring‐summer seasons at 17 sites distributed among 5 stream orders. Litter decay rates varied more, and were higher in spring‐summer than in fall‐winter. On the spatial scale, patterns of decay rate variation among sites and orders did not vary between seasons; seasonal variation was low in reaches with slow rates and high in reaches with fast rates. Data analysis showed a spatial pattern of increasing reed detritus decay rates with increasing stream order. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)