Conclusion
We show with a novel combination of approaches that forest loss affects freshwater food webs via indirect resource limitations. Our observations also add to a growing body of evidence indicating that terrestrial subsidies are a less important basal resource than autochthonous aquatic production. From a conservation perspective, our findings reinforce the conventional wisdom advocating the preservation of intact forests (Gibson et al., 2011). While this ideal may appear unfeasible in the face of rapid urbanisation and expanding human populations, our observations suggest that we may be able to limit the impacts of anthropogenic development within river catchments by prioritising the preservation (or restoration) of forest cover upstream of more sensitive freshwater habitats. More importantly, our study reveals the impacts of forest loss on food webs at a decadal temporal scale which may not be apparent in the short term because of compensatory effects of buffering mechanisms (e.g., trophic redundancy (Chua et al., in revision), food web complexity (Brose et al., 2005)). It is paramount that we do not underestimate the importance of responsible land-use planning as longer-term impacts can sometimes be overlooked.