Spatial variation in caddisfly grazing regimes within a northern California watershed

Ecologists seek better understanding of why species interactions change across space and time in natural communities. In streams, species effects on resources and community structure may change as physical characteristics of the stream environment change along drainage networks. We examined spatial and seasonal effects of armored grazers using a small-scale exclusion experiment that was replicated in streams of different drainage areas. Effects of grazing varied with stream size and were related to variation in grazer abundance and phenology. We identified three distinct grazing regimes and a stream size (drainage area DA]) threshold corresponding to a shift from one to two functional trophic levels. In streams with DA < 1 km2, armored grazers did not reduce biomass of algal biofilms. In slightly larger streams (2-3 km2 DA), the armored grazer guild was dominated by bivoltine Glossosoma. These caddisflies persisted and limited algal biofilms throughout the summer in one of these streams. In the largest tributaries (DA > 10 km2), the grazer guild was dominated by univoltine caddisflies, and grazing limited algal biofilms in early summer, but not late summer, after caddisflies pupated. Drainage area is a useful predictor of spatial transitions in food web interactions within and among watersheds. Quantifying the drainage area threshold at which interactions change in catchments with differing geology, vegetation, hydrology, climate, land use, or species pools should help build the understanding we need to forecast ecological responses to environmental change.