Habitat variation and life history strategies of benthic invertebrates

The thesis considers two key aspects of lotic freshwater ecosystems, the physical microhabitat and organic matter dynamics. The first part focuses on the indirect effects of light and riparian canopy cover on shredder growth and productivity through the effect on the nutritional quality of the food source. The second part addresses the nature of differences in response to physical habitat structure and current velocity in common species of shredders. Three invertebrate shredder-detritivore species were selected as study organisms: the freshwater shrimp Gammarus pulex, the freshwater louse Asellus aquaticus and the stonefly Nemoura cinerea