Urban stressors alter the trophic basis of secondary production in an agricultural stream

We compared the invertebrate production and stable isotope signatures of key ecosystem compartments of urban sites subjected to the input of tertiary-treated wastewater with those of upstream sites in an agricultural lowland stream. We detected a significant shift in the trophic basis of invertebrate production from upstream, natural and agricultural resources, to urban resources, i.e., wastewater-derived organic matter as well as autochthonous primary production based on wastewater-derived nutrients. Invertebrate production was higher at urban sites than at agricultural sites. However, the median contribution of the most important secondary producer, the shredder Gammarus roeseli, to total invertebrate production was lower at urban sites (9%) than at agricultural sites (61%). The low production of G. roeseli at urban sites was associated with the absence of allochthonous coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) habitats, rather than the loss of CPOM as a food resource. Our results suggest that contemporary urban stressors in developed countries affect secondary producers less severely than historically recorded, but still profoundly change the matter fluxes and ecosystem functioning of running waters. Restoration of the native riparian vegetation, channel naturalization, and adequate dilution of tertiary-treated wastewater may partially mitigate adverse effects on invertebrate communities and their secondary production.