Riparian buffers mitigate downstream effects of clear-cutting on instream metabolic rates.

Clear-cutting of forests with little or no regard for riparian buffers alters the local abiotic habitat of streams within and downstream of clear-cuts by increasing temperature, incident light, suspended sediments and resource inputs such as carbon and inorganic nutrients. It is also well documented that streams with narrow or non-existent riparian buffers affect local stream ecosystem processes. Here, we ask whether ecosystem processes can also be affected downstream of clear-cuts.

Forest-stream linkages: effects of terrestrial invertebrate input and light on diet and growth of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a boreal forest stream.

Subsidies of energy and material from the riparian zone have large impacts on recipient stream habitats. Human-induced changes, such as deforestation, may profoundly affect these pathways. However, the strength of individual factors on stream ecosystems is poorly understood since the factors involved often interact in complex ways.

Environmentally induced migration: the importance of food.

The decision to migrate or not is regarded as genetically controlled for many invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. Here, we show that the environment influences this decision. By reciprocally transplanting brown trout (Salmo trutta L.