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On the influence of substrate morphology and surface area on phytofauna

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Abstract

The independent effects and interactions between substrate morphology and substrate surface area on invertebrate density or biomass colonizing artificial plant beds were assessed in a clear-water and a turbid playa lake in Castro County, Texas, USA. Total invertebrate density and biomass were consistently greater on filiform substrates than on laminar substrates with equivalent substrate surface areas. The relationship among treatments (substrates with different morphologies and surface areas) and response (invertebrate density or biomass) was assessed with equally spaced surface areas. Few statistically significant interactions between substrate morphology and surface area were detected, indicating that these factors were mostly independent from each other in their effect on colonizing invertebrates. Although infrequently, when substrate morphology and surface area were not independent, the effects of equally spaced changes in substrate surface area on the rate of change of phytofauna density or biomass per unit of substrate surface area were dependent upon substrate morphology. The absence of three-way interactions indicated that effects of substrate morphology and substrate area on phytofauna density or biomass were independent of environmental conditions outside and inside exclosures.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Martha Bautista-Rodríguez for building artificial substrates, and Greg A. Conley, John A. Dennis, Andrew A. Radomsky, Patrick A. Chubb, Thomas L. Freeman, Tamrah L. Craft and Menzdehng Wen for assistance with fieldwork. Certainly our appreciation goes to Mr. Kent Irons and Mr. Butch Merritt for allowing us to conduct this experiment in their playa lakes. David B. Wester provided statistical guidance. Funding for this study was provided by Texas Tech University and the Mexican National Polytechnic Institute.

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  1. Salvador Becerra-Muñoz

    Present address: PG&E, Environmental Services, 3400 Crow Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA, 94583, USA

  2. Harold L. Schramm Jr.

    Present address: U.S. Geological Survey, Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Mail Stop 9691, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA

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  1. Department of Range, Fisheries and Wildlife Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409-2125, USA

    Salvador Becerra-Muñoz & Harold L. Schramm Jr.

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  1. Salvador Becerra-Muñoz
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  2. Harold L. Schramm Jr.
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Correspondence to Salvador Becerra-Muñoz.

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Handling editor: D. Harper

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Becerra-Muñoz, S., Schramm, H.L. On the influence of substrate morphology and surface area on phytofauna. Hydrobiologia 575, 117–128 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0359-x

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