Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites. In the TeaComposition initiative, the potential litter decomposition is investigated by using standardized substrates (Rooibos and Green tea) for comparison of litter mass loss at 336 sites (ranging from -9 to +26 °C MAT and from 60 to 3113 mm MAP) across different ecosystems. In this study we tested the effect of climate (temperature and moisture), litter type and land-use on early stage decomposition (3 months) across nine biomes. We show that litter quality was the predominant controlling factor in early stage litter decomposition, which explained about 65% of the variability in litter decomposition at a global scale. The effect of climate, on the other hand, was not litter specific and explained <0.5% of the variation for Green tea and 5% for Rooibos tea, and was of significance only under unfavorable decomposition conditions (i.e. xeric versus mesic environments). When the data were aggregated at the biome scale, climate played a significant role on decomposition of both litter types (explaining 64% of the variation for Green tea and 72% for Rooibos tea). No significant effect of land-use on early stage litter decomposition was noted within the temperate biome. Our results indicate that multiple drivers are affecting early stage litter mass loss with litter quality being dominant. In order to be able to quantify the relative importance of the different drivers over time, long-term studies combined with experimental trials are needed.

Biological communities are composed of a few common and many rare species. An understanding of the mechanisms that govern the distribution of these species is fundamental to knowledge regarding community ecology. Our hypothesis is that chironomid larvae follow a nested distribution in relation to hydrological periods in Neotropical floodplain lakes, whereby the flood period composition is a subset of the drought periods with a predominance of common species. We collected samples from 18 lakes in 2011 in a flood month and three drought months. The community followed a nested distribution where the spatial factors were more important for rare and common species during the flood and for the common species during all months. Thus, with the increasing connectivity and similarity of environments during the flood, neutral processes, as the dispersal, would govern the community. Conversely, environmental factors were more important for rare species in the drought, which suggest that these species are more specialists, largely influenced by niche-related processes. Thus, our study emphasizes the complexity of biological communities specifically concerning how environmental, spatial, and temporal factors influence community dynamics among species groups.

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Ecological studies on food webs have considerably increased in recent decades, especially in aquatic communities. Because Chironomidae family are highly specious, occurring in almost all aquatic habitats is considered organisms-key to initiate studies on ecological relationships and trophic webs. We tested the hypothesis that the diversity of the morphospecies diet reflects differences on both the food items available among habitats and the preferences of larval feeding. We analyzed the gut content of the seven most abundant Chironomidae morphospecies of the different habitats from the Upper Paraná River. We categorized the food items found into algae, fungal spores, fragments of plants, algae and animal fragments and sponge spicules. We observed the algae predominance in the gut content of morphospecies from lakes. Considering the different regions from each lake, we registered the highest food abundance in the littoral regions in relation to the central regions. From the variety of feeding habits (number of item kinds), we classified Chironomus strenzkei, Tanytarsus sp.1, Procladius sp.1 as generalist morphospecies. We found a nested pattern between food items and Chironomidae morphospecies, where some items were common to all taxa (e.g., Bacillariophyceae algae, especially), while others were found in specific morphospecies (e.g., animals fragments found in Procladius sp.1). The algae represented the most percentage of gut contents of Chironomidae larvae. This was especially true for the individuals from littoral regions, which is probably due to the major densities of algae associated to macrophytes, which are abundant in these regions. Therefore, the feeding behavior of these morphospecies was generalist and not selective, depending only of the available resources.Keywords: lakes, food networks, aquatic invertebrate, food resources, Upper Paraná River. Hábitos alimentares de Chironomidae em diferentes habitats de uma planície de inundação Neotropical: explorando padrões em redes alimentares aquáticas ResumoEstudos sobre redes alimentares têm aumentado consideravelmente nas últimas décadas em pesquisas de ecologia, principalmente em comunidades aquáticas. Em função Família Chironomidae ser altamente especiosa, ocorrendo em quase todos os hábitats aquáticos, é considerada como organismos-chave para estudos preliminares sobre as relações ecológicas como redes tróficas. Nós testamos a hipótese de que a diversidade de dietas das morfoespécies reflete diferenças tanto na disponibilidade dos itens alimentares entre os hábitats analisados, quanto preferencias alimentares das larvas. Nós analisamos o conteúdo digestivo das sete morfoespécies mais abundantes de diferentes habitats da planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná. Nós categorizamos os itens alimentares encontrados como algas, esporos de fungos, fragmentos vegetais, fragmentos de algas ou de animais e espículas de esponjas. Nós observamos a predominância de algas no conteúdo digestivo das morfoespécies lacustres. Considerando as diferentes regiões d...

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Benthic habitats are linked by physical processes and are essential elements in assessing of the distribution dynamics of Chironomidae dipteran insects and their role in aquatic ecosystems. This work presents results of distribution patterns of chironomids larvae in 38 sites that are abundant in the study site, inhabiting the substrate of the main river channel, rapids, tributary brook, floodplain lakes and reservoir along the Sepotuba River from its mouth at the Paraguay River to the headwater region. A total of 1,247 larvae was registered. The most abundant taxa were Polypedilum (Tripodura) sp. (25.2%), Cricotopus sp.3 (23.0%) and Tanytarsus sp. (15.0%). Fissimentum desiccatum were found only in the reservoir; Fissimentum sp.2 and Tanytarsus cf. T. obiriciae sp.2 in floodplain lakes, and Goeldichironomus sp. in the main channel. The low diversity of the sites S06 and S35 is caused by the near-exclusive presence of the species Cricotopus sp.3, alone or together with one or another taxon (Tanytarsus sp., Djalmabatista sp.3). Collectors-filterers represent 16%, collectors-gatherers 15%, predators 11% and scrapers only 1%. The predators dominated in the secondary channel (±88 ind/m 2 ), corresponding to 40% of the total of this group. Cryptochironomus sp.2 (34%) and Ablasbemyia gr. annulata (26%) were the most abundant among the predators. The differences along the river course are decisive for the formation of distinct or discontinuous communities and the limits become obvious though the interrelations between the populations in the community, as for instance, competition for food and habitats.Keywords: Chironomidae, functional trophic groups, diversity, Pantanal of Mato Grosso, floodplains. Hábitats e relações tróficas de insetos Chironomidae da bacia do RioSepotuba, Pantanal de Mato Grosso, Brasil ResumoHábitats bênticos estão ligados por processos físicos e são elementos essenciais na avaliação da dinâmica de distribuição de insetos dípteros Chironomidae e seu papel em ecossistemas aquáticos. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados dos padrões de distribuição de larvas de Chironomidae em 38 locais que são abundantes na área de estudo, habitando o substrato do canal principal do rio, cachoeiras, córregos tributários, lagoas de planície de inundação, e reservatórios ao longo do Rio Sepotuba de sua desembocadura ao Rio Paraguai e na região de cabeceira.

RESUMO.A planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná caracteriza-se pela grande diversidade de organismos aquáticos e as larvas de Chironomidae destacam-se por sua elevada abundância. A partir da hipótese de que as variáveis abióticas influenciam a composição, densidade e dominância das larvas de Chironomidae em diferentes ambientes e períodos amostrados, este trabalho objetivou: caracterizar o rio Baía, canal secundário, lagoa não-conectada (Fechada) e lagoa conectada (Guaraná) da planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná, de acordo com os atributos da assembléia de Chironomidae e identificar possíveis gradientes de distribuição espacial e temporal das larvas, relacionando-as com algumas variáveis abióticas. As coletas foram realizadas no período de março de 2003 a dezembro de 2005, em três pontos distintos (margens e centro), com o auxílio de um pegador tipo Petersen modificado. A Análise de Correspondência Canônica mostrou que as larvas foram influenciadas principalmente pela textura granulométrica do sedimento. O canal Curutuba, pela presença de seixos, diferenciou-se das demais estações de coleta como rio Baía e as lagoas de inundação onde predominaram as partículas mais finas. Pode-se concluir que a composição granulométrica, a porcentagem de matéria orgânica presente no sedimento e a hidrodinâmica de cada ambiente foram os principais fatores que influenciaram a distribuição espacial das larvas de Chironomidae.Palavras-chave: insetos aquáticos, dominância, composição granulométrica, planície de inundação, rio Paraná.ABSTRACT. Temporal and spatial distribution of Chironomidae larvae in different environments of the Baía river complex, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. The floodplain of the upper Paraná river is characterized by the great diversity of aquatic organisms, and the larvae of Chironomidae are distinguished for their high density. Starting from the hypothesis that abiotic variables influence Chironomidae larvae composition, density and dominance in different environments and sampled periods, this study aimed to characterize the Baía river, secondary channel, floodplain lakes (connected and non-connected) of the Paraná river floodplain, according to attributes of Chironomidae assemblage, and identify possible gradients of temporal and spatial distribution of the larvae, relating them with abiotic variables. The collections were carried out from March 2003 to December 2005. Samples were collected in three points (margins and center), using a modified Petersen grab. CCA showed the larvae were influenced mainly by sediment particle size. Curutuba channel, due to the presence of pebbles, differed from other sites such as the Baía river and floodplain lakes, where fine particles predominated. It was concluded that particle size composition, percentage of organic matter and hydrodynamic of each environment were the main variables that influenced the spatial distribution of Chironomidae larvae.