Coarse particulate organic matter budgets

Abstract

During the last three decades great efforts have been dedicated to the study of terrestrial-aquatic linkages, in particular to coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) of riparian origin and its fate in streams (see Webster et al. 1995 and Abelho 2001 for reviews). A considerable amount of litter entering streams is retained within the channel. Thus local benthic CPOM is related to the riparian vegetation, underlining the strong influence of the terrestrial environment on the energy basis of low-order forest streams (Wallace et al. 1999). In addition, the discharge regime directly affects the stream retention capacity for CPOM (Larrañaga et al. 2003) and thus the availability of organic matter to stream consumers and decomposers. When peaks of litter input coincide with high discharge, downstream displacement of CPOM is favoured, whereas CPOM tends to accumulate in the stream bed when litter inputs coincide with low flow.