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Potential effects of the invasive bivalve Corbicula fluminea on methane cycling processes in an urban stream

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Abstract

Lotic methane production, consumption, and flux depends on biogeochemical conditions that vary at fine scales within streams. The invasive bivalve, Corbicula fluminea, is known to affect stream biogeochemistry and may influence methane cycling via bioturbation and respiration. Response of methanogenesis rate, potential rate of methanotrophy, and net methane flux to Corbicula density was tested using intact sediment core incubations. Potential methanotrophy decreased and net methane flux increased with Corbicula density in sediment cores. However, the magnitude of this effect decreased at the highest Corbicula densities tested here. Response of sediment pore water methane concentration to Corbicula density was tested using in situ cage enclosures in a randomized block design over a 50 m stream reach. Block effect was the most significant predictor of in situ pore water methane concentration, and Corbicula density had a positive, marginally significant, interaction with the block effect, indicating that Corbicula’s effect on methane concentration varies with in situ conditions. Our study shows that Corbicula influences methane cycling processes in the laboratory, apparently via their impact on dissolved oxygen, but this effect depends on stream conditions in the field. Further study is needed to evaluate mechanisms of this relationship more fully.

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Abbreviations

AFDM:

Ash free dry mass

AIC:

Akaike information criteria

DO:

Dissolved oxygen

DTR:

Depth to refusal

GC-FID:

Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection

GLS:

Generalized least squares regression

OLS:

Ordinary least squares regression

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Acknowledgements

Methane analysis was conducted at UNC Chapel Hill with guidance and technical expertise provided by Dr. Steve Whalen and his graduate student, Katy Broadwater. Thanks to members of the Hershey lab who provided support for both laboratory and field experiments and thanks to Peter Blum for aiding with methane conversions. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped improve the manuscript. Funding was provided by the UNC Greensboro Biology Department, the W. John O’Brien Award for Field Research, and the Julia Taylor Morton Endowment.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6170, USA

    Robert S. Brown & Anne E. Hershey

  2. Department of Biology, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN, 38505, USA

    Robert S. Brown

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  1. Robert S. Brown
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Correspondence to Robert S. Brown.

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Brown, R.S., Hershey, A.E. Potential effects of the invasive bivalve Corbicula fluminea on methane cycling processes in an urban stream. Biogeochemistry 144, 181–195 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-019-00578-1

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