Lake littoral macroinvertebrate biomass and community structure across alkalinity and nutrient gradients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of alkalinity and nutrients on the biomass of lake littoral macroinvertebrate communities. An initial comparative study of nine lakes determined the effect of alkalinity and nutrients on length-mass relationships of eight common aquatic macroinvertebrates among lakes representing an alkalinity and nutrient gradient. The influence of alkalinity and nutrient enrichment on total biomass, mean biomass, and on the slope and intercept of littoral macroinvertebrate size spectra with nutrients, alkalinity and substrate was examined in a comparative study of forty eight lakes, representing an alkalinity and nutrient gradient. The effects of alkalinity and nutrient enrichment on community structure (based on the collective biomass of taxa) and on the proportional biomass of functional feeding groups (FFGs) of lake littoral macroinvertebrates from stony substrates in these forty eight lakes was also investigated.