| Alargeexperimentalchannelwasusedtoexaminetheresponsesofbenthicinvertebratecom-munitiestoartificialflushes.Twoartificialflushesweredoneata20-dayintervalwitha2-folddifferenceinpeakdischargeanddurationbetweenthem.Theeffectsoftheflushesonmacroinverte-bratesweremonitoredbycomparingtheabundanceofindividualtaxa,taxonrichness,diversitymeasures,andsimilarityindices.Taxonrichnessandabun-dancesofinvertebratesweredrasticallyreducedbyeveryflush.However,thediversityofinvertebrateswasnotsignificantlyreducedbytheflushes,andthecompositionwassimilarbeforeandaftereachflush.Thefastrecruitmentofsometaxa,havingshortlifecycles,reducedthediversityofinvertebratesintheintervalbetweenthetwoflushes.Theflushescausedsignificantreductionsintheabundanceofepiphytesandfaunalivinginthestreambed.Thefaunamoreresistanttoflusheswereinvertebratesthatfastentheircasesorretreatsbysilkthreadstosubstrata.Taxalivinginsedimentunderstonesandhavingasuckingapparatuswerealsoresistanttoflushes. |
