Abstract
Headwater ephemeral tributaries are interfaces between uplands and downstream waters. Terrestrial coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) is important in fueling aquatic ecosystems; however, the extent to which ephemeral tributaries are functionally connected to downstream waters through fluvial transport of CPOM has been little studied. Hydrology and deposition of leaf and wood, and surrogate transport (Ginkgo biloba leaves and wood dowels) were measured over month‐long intervals through the winter and spring seasons (6 months) in 10 ephemeral tributaries (1.3–5.4 ha) in eastern Kentucky. Leaf deposition and surrogate transport varied over time, reflecting the seasonality of litterfall and runoff. Leaf deposition was higher in December than February and May but did not differ from January, March, and April. Mean percent of surrogate leaf transport from the ephemeral tributaries was highest in April (3.6% per day) and lowest in February (2.5%) and May (2%). Wood deposition and transport had similar patterns. No CPOM measures were related to flow frequency. Ephemeral tributaries were estimated to annually contribute 110.6 kg AFDM·km−1·yr−1 of leaves to the downstream mainstem. Ephemeral tributaries are functionally connected to downstream waters through CPOM storage and subsequent release that is timed when CPOM is often limited in downstream waters.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2019
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2654
Related Content
Additional Supporting Information may be found online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.2654/full
Repository Citation
Fritz, Ken M.; Pond, Gregory J.; Johnson, Brent R.; and Barton, Chris D., "Coarse Particulate Organic Matter Dynamics in Ephemeral Tributaries of a Central Appalachian Stream Network" (2019). Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications. 38.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/forestry_facpub/38
Supporting Information
Included in
Environmental Sciences Commons, Forest Sciences Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Ecosphere, v. 10, issue 3, article e02654, p. 1-18.
© 2019 The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.