Department Chair
Martha Skerrett, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Biology
Date of Award
12-2016
Access Control
Open Access
Degree Name
Biology, M.A.
Department
Biology Department
Advisor
Christopher M. Pennuto
Department Home page
http://biology.buffalostate.edu/
First Reader
Christopher M. Pennuto
Second Reader
Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja
Third Reader
Randal J. Snyder
Abstract
Trophic cascades involve powerful feeding interactions that can alter the flow of energy and the abundance of species in an ecosystem. In western NY streams, the negative impacts of a new benthic invertivore, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is altering benthic community structure and leaf litter decomposition. Streams with round gobies have a reduced abundance of shredders and slower leaf decay than streams without gobies. However, crayfish, as shredders of leaf litter, may be large or aggressive enough to avoid predation by round gobies. I used a 30-day full factorial field experiment with blocks to determine if round gobies affected the role of the crayfish (Orconectes propinquus) in the breakdown of detritus. I found no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the decay rates of red maple leaves (Acer rubrum) among treatments. However, I observed a difference in the number of prey consumed by predators among treatments (P
Recommended Citation
Tentinger, Stephen H., "It’s Complicated: Does Food Web Structure Affect Detrital Processing in Streams?" (2016). Biology Theses. 27.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/biology_theses/27
