Dicamptodon tenebrosus larvae within hyporheic zones of intermittent streams in California

Abstract

Lotic ecosystems are increasingly viewed as having three interactive spatial compartments, i.e., channel sediments, the hyporheic zone, and flood plains or riparian areas (Cummins et al. 1983; Ward 1989). The hyporheic zone is the sub-benthic habitat of interstitial spaces between substrate particles in the stream bed, and is the transition zone between surface flow and ground water (Boulton et al. 1998; Stanford and Ward 1988; White 1993). Extensive use of the hyporheic zone by invertebrates has been reported (Smock et al. 1992; Williams and Hynes 1974), but aside from several accounts of nesting in the hyporheic zone (e.g., Dethlefsen 1948; Henry and Twitty 1940), little is known about amphibian use of this habitat. The objective of this paper is to describe incidental captures of Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) larvae within the hyporheic zone of two seasonally intermittent streams while sampling for macroinvertebrates in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California.

Citation

Feral, David; Camann, Michael A.; Welsh Jr., Hartwell H. 2005. Dicamptodon tenebrosus larvae within hyporheic zones of intermittent streams in California. Herpetological Review, Vol. 36(1): 26-27