Keystone coleopterans? Colonization by wood-feeding elmids of experimentally immersed woods in south-eastern Australia
Date
1998
Authors
McKie, B. G. L.
Cranston, Peter
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CSLI Publications
Abstract
Macroinvertebrates on immersed woods in streams in montane south-eastern Australia respond to differences in wood taxa, according to a 4-month colonization study of experimentally positioned sticks. Xylophagous elmids (Coleoptera : Elmidae) strongly preferred local native Eucalyptus over other types of wood including non-native softer timbers (Pinus and Alnus). Where gouging elmids were abundant (in native forest streams with native riparian vegetation), immersed Eucalyptus wood supported high abundances of other macroinvertebrates; in their absence (in open grassland streams), Eucalyptus supported few other macroinvertebrates. Macroinvertebrate-gouged channels were present disproportionately on Eucalyptus sticks relative to other wood species. It is proposed that xylophagous elmid beetles are the principal macroinvertebrate modifiers of wood in these south-eastern Australian streams, where their gouging of channels increases surface area, thereby facilitating colonization by other macroinvertebrates and wood-decaying microorganisms and fungi.
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Keywords
colonization, eucalypt, stream, wood-boring beetle, Australia, (Southeast), Alnus, Coleoptera, Elimidae, Eucalyptus, Pinus
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Source
Marine and Freshwater Research
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Journal article
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2037-12-31
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