Original paper
The influence of discharge on entrainment of bank litter in a headwater stream
Ractliffe, S. Geordie; Davies, Bryan R.; Stewart, Barbara A.; Snaddon, Catherine D.
Archiv für Hydrobiologie Volume 134 Number 1 (1995), p. 103 - 117
38 references
published: Jun 28, 1995
DOI: 10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/134/1995/103
ArtNo. ESP141013401005, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
The fate of summer accumulations of leaf litter at Langrivier, a second-order, acid, headwater stream was monitored during the first ten weeks of winter rains (April-June 1991), in an attempt to describe the quantity of litter available and its movement through the stream during, and between, winter spates. Litter mass was measured at three distances from the stream edge, on banks with different gradients. A closed-system release and recapture method was employed to quantify leaf movement after each spate in a continuous 76-day study. Langrivier had a mean bank-litter mass of 1.04 kg m-2 at the start of winter. Bank litter provided 0.005-0.54 kg m-2 to the stream during the study period. Leaf movement was spate-driven, and was not significantly affected by wind or non-spate flows, although some litter was incorporated due to bank collapse during larger spates. Large spates (average discharge, 1.32 m3 s-1) scoured the stream of debris, while moderately large spates (average, 0.8 m3 s-1) led to the reincorporation of new loads of bank litter into the stream. It is concluded that the dynamics of leaf detritus in this headwater stream during winter are characterised by the sequential removal (scour) and replacement (incorporation from banks) of litter in spate-driven pulses.
Keywords
litter • detrius • acid • headwater • stream • reincorporation