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Predator transitions in stream communities: a model and evidence from field studies

Abstract The role of predators (particularly top predators such as fish) in structuring stream communities has been debated for 2 decades. Much of the debate may have been caused by the lack of a conceptual framework for evaluating predator effects in stream communities. First, I propose a general conceptual model of the factors (abiotic, such as stream permanence and disturbance regime; biotic, such as predation) that can influence community structure, and the conditions in which these various factors would be expected to be important. Hydrologic permanence and disturbance transitions separate streams where abiotic factors are most important in determining community structure from streams with relatively benign disturbance regimes where predation may be more important. Second, I focus on the potential effect of predators in perennial streams with relatively benign disturbance regimes. Such streams are divided longitudinally into sections where different types of predators might be important in determining community structure. Large invertebrates (stoneflies, dragonflies, shrimp, and crayfish) and salamanders may be the dominant benthic predators affecting species composition in small perennial fishless streams. A transition from invertebrate- and amphibian-dominated to fish-dominated systems may occur in larger, downstream sections (predator transition 1). In addition, longitudinal transitions in fish-assemblage structure from upstream tributaries to downstream main-channel fish assemblages (predator transition 2) may affect community structure. I present evidence supporting the above model and suggest experimental approaches to test the model. This conceptual framework may help in understanding the role of specific predators in determining prey distributions in many stream communities.