The influence of channel bed disturbance on benthic Chlorophyll a: A high resolution perspective

This study explores how spatial dynamics and frequency of bed mobility events in a headwater stream affect the spatial and temporal variability in stream benthic algal abundance and ultimately the resilience of benthic algae to stream scouring events of different magnitudes. We characterized spatial variability in sediment transport for nine separate flow events (0.1-1.7 of bankfull flow), coupling high resolution (< 0.1 m2) two-dimensional shear stress values with detailed measurements of the channel substrate. The stream bed was categorized into regions of high and low disturbance based on potential mobility of different grain sizes. High resolution (< 0.25 m2), in situ measurements of benthic Chlorophyll-a concentrations (Chl-a) were taken on 18 sampling dates before and after high flow events in regions of the streambed with contrasting disturbance to understand how benthic algal communities respond to sediment transport disturbance through space and time. According to the modeling results, the percentage of the channel likely to be disturbed varied greatly across the different flows and considered grain sizes between 7.7 and 70.4% for the lowest and highest flow events respectively. Mean shear stress in the channel bed across all sampling dates explained 49% of the variance in Chl-a. Over the 18 sampling dates - encompassing post-disturbance impacts and subsequent recovery - Chl-a differed between disturbance level categories defined based on the relative movement of the median grain size on 14 occasions. However, low disturbance locations were not always associated with higher Chl-a. The algal Chl-a biomass at any given time was a function of the stage of algal recovery following a high flow event and the magnitude of the disturbance itself - impacting algal loss during the event. Resistance of the algal communities to bed disturbance and resilience to recovery following a flow event varied spatially. Areas with low shear stress were less susceptible to scour during moderate disturbance events but were slower to recover when scour occurred. In contrast, high shear stress areas responded rapidly to flood events with rapid declines, but also recovered more quickly and appeared to have high potential for maximum accrual within our study reach. Ultimately, timing along with the inverse relationship between resiliency and disturbance frequency highlights the complexity of these processes and the importance of studying the interactions between geomorphic and ecological processes with high resolution across spatial and temporal scales.