Graduation Year
2016
Graduation Month
May
Document Type
Thesis - Campus Access Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
School or Department
Forestry and Conservation, College of
Major
Wildlife Biology – Aquatic
Faculty Mentor Department
Wildlife Biology
Faculty Mentor
Lisa Eby
Faculty Reader(s)
Doug Emlen, Winsor Lowe, Lisa Eby
Keywords
stream ecosystems, long-term impacts, fire, aquatic invertebrate community, cutthroat trout, drift
Subject Categories
Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Abstract
Wildfire frequency and severity in the western U.S. have increased in recent decades and is predicted to continue to increase with climate change. Wildfire can alter stream characteristics resulting in warmer water temperatures, higher sediment and nutrient loading, as well as shifts in aquatic benthic community composition. Few studies have examined decadal impacts of wildfires on stream food webs. Based on habitat changes and previous studies, we predicted that there would be an increase in terrestrial subsidies and shift to more disturbance-adapted aquatic species in burned streams, resulting in burned stream having a higher prey availability and likely energy availability for fish 15 years after wildfire. In August of 2014 and 2015, we examined quantity and quality of Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi, hereafter cutthroat) diets and invertebrate drift in seven unburned streams and seven streams that experienced severe riparian burns in 2000 in the Bitterroot River basin, MT. There was no difference in the proportion of terrestrial invertebrates between treatments in the drift or in cutthroat diets (p=0.47). There was a compositional shift in the aquatic invertebrate community in the drift at the family level to smaller species typically with higher dispersal and turnover rates in streams. This shift was mirrored in cutthroat diets. Total energy availability in the drift was higher in burned streams (p=0.03) than in unburned streams. The differences in drift and trout diets between treatments indicate decadal changes in food web structure that may increase production potential for local fish populations.
Honors College Research Project
1
Recommended Citation
Winkelman, Rennie A., "Decadal Impacts of Wildfire on Stream Food Webs" (2016). Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts. 75.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/utpp/75
© Copyright 2016 Rennie A. Winkelman