Influence of riparian vegetation on invertebrate assemblages in a recently formed stream in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Influence of the development of riparian vegetation on benthic invertebrate assemblages was analyzed in a recently formed stream in southeast Alaska. Several features of riparian interaction were documented: 1) invertebrate use of willow catkins entering streams in summer, 2) invertebrate use of submerged alder roots as a substrate for attachment and as a source of building material for caddisfly cases, and 3) retention of leaf litter by salmon carcasses. The development of riparian vegetation markedly influenced colonization of the stream by certain invertebrate taxa and thereby played an important role in the successional sequence of macroinvertebrates and overall assemblage development in this new stream.