A database of West European headwater macroinvertebrate stoichiometric traits

Beck, Miriam; Billoir, Élise; Felten, Vincent; Meyer, Amélie; Usseglio‐Polatera, Philippe; Danger, Michaël; Gonzalez, Andrea F.

doi:10.1111/geb.13413

Cited by 6 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…Additionally, phosphorus content was positively related to small and intermediate maximum body sizes (0.5–1, 1–2 cm) and negatively related to the category of largest maximum sizes (> 4 cm), supporting GRH that small taxa tend to be short‐lived and fast‐growing. However, the category of the smallest maximum body size (<0.5 cm) was associated with low phosphorus content, which was likely mainly driven by small‐sized Coleoptera as they have one of the lowest phosphorus content among insect orders (Beck et al, 2022 ; Frost et al, 2003 ; Liess & Hillebrand, 2005 ). In a field study, Villar‐Argaiz et al ( 2020 ) did not find a correlation between %P and the individual maximum biomass they found for a given taxon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Growing without molting (i.e., direct development) or with only one molting event (from planktonic larval to benthic adult instar) was associated with a high C:N ratio. Both are characteristics of Bivalvia and Gastropoda, which generally have a significantly lower nitrogen (and phosphorus) content than other macroinvertebrate groups (Beck et al, 2022 ; Evans‐White et al, 2005 ). The association of high C:nutrient ratios with undergoing a complete aquatic life cycle (i.e., aquatic “adults”) and reproducing ovoviviparous or via “fixed cemented clutches” was likely driven by these two groups, even though organisms from other taxonomic groups can also exhibit some of these features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stoichiometric trait information was obtained from a database comprising 259 macroinvertebrate taxa and the elemental mass content of %C, %N, %P, and the corresponding molar ratios (C:N, C:P, N:P) as taxon mean values (Beck et al, 2022 ). It has been constructed mainly based on field samplings, supplemented by literature research.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Functional trait information was obtained from a database comprising information about >400 macroinvertebrate taxa and their biological and ecological traits (updated version of Tachet et al, 2010 ). The trait “number of reproductive cycles per individual” was taken from Beck et al ( 2022 ) and “number of molting events” was coded for this study. The trait profiles were described via fuzzy coding: Each trait is represented by several trait categories, and for each category, the affinity of a taxon is given by a score ranging from 0 (= no affinity) to 5 (= high affinity) (Chevenet et al, 1994 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…"development-related traits") Trophic status Eutrophic environments → high body %N and %P due to increased food quality of basal resources under high nutrient conditions (Cross et al, 2003;Danger et al, 2016;Demi et al, 2019) Velocity Linked to mobility (cf. "locomotion"): Fast → high body %N due to more active mobility, which requires N-rich muscle tissue; Slow/null → low body %N due to lower proportion of muscles of %C, %N, %P, and the corresponding molar ratios (C:N, C:P, N:P) as taxon mean values (Beck et al, 2022). It has been constructed mainly based on field samplings, supplemented by literature research.…”

Section: Functional Trait Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lessons from linking bio‐ and ecological traits to stoichiometric traits in stream macroinvertebrates

Beck

Billoir

Felten

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Ecologists rely on various functional traits when investigating the functioning of ecological systems and its responses to global changes. Changing nutrient levels, for example, can affect taxa expressing different trait combinations in various ways, e.g., favoring small, fast‐growing species under high phosphorus conditions. Stoichiometric traits, describing the elemental composition of organism body tissues, can help in understanding the mechanisms behind such functional shifts. So far, mainly life‐history traits have been related to body stoichiometry (e.g., the growth rate hypothesis) on a limited number of taxa, and there is little knowledge of the general link between stoichiometric and other functional traits on a taxonomically large scale. Here, we highlight this link in the freshwater macroinvertebrates, testing predictions from underlying trait‐based and Ecological Stoichiometry Theory (EST) in >200 taxa belonging to eight larger taxonomic groups. We applied a series of multivariate analyses on six of their stoichiometric traits (%C, %N, %P, C:N, C:P, and N:P) and 23 biological and ecological traits. We found significant relationships between stoichiometric traits and other types of traits when analyzing single‐trait and multi‐trait profiles. Patterns found within traits related to organism development or nutrient cycling were in line with our assumptions based on EST, e.g., traits describing predators were associated with high %N; traits suggesting a fast development (small maximum body size and high molting frequency) with high %P. Associations between ecological traits and body stoichiometry could be explained by the longitudinal stream gradient: Taxa preferring headwater habitats (i.e., high altitude, coarse substrate, and cold temperature) exhibited high %N and %P. Demonstrating the link between stoichiometric and both bio‐ and ecological traits on a large diversity of taxa underlines the potential of integrating stoichiometric traits into ecological analyses to improve our understanding of taxonomic and functional responses of communities—and ecosystems—to changing environmental conditions worldwide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Functional Trait Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lessons from linking bio‐ and ecological traits to stoichiometric traits in stream macroinvertebrates

Beck

Billoir

Felten

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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A 34-year survey under phosphorus decline and warming: Consequences on stoichiometry and functional trait composition of freshwater macroinvertebrate communities

Beck

Billoir

Floury

et al. 2023

Science of The Total Environment

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Effects of water nutrient concentrations on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry: a large-scale study

Beck,

Billoir,

Usseglio-Polatera

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Basal resources generally mirror environmental nutrient concentrations in the elemental composition of their tissue, meaning that nutrient alterations can directly reach consumer level. An increased nutrient content (e.g. phosphorus) in primary and detrital resources under nutrient enriched conditions should favour taxa with a high demand for this nutrient. With the nutrient demand of a taxon being correlated to the elemental composition of its body tissue (e.g. phosphorus content), such above described species shifts likely alter the overall community stoichiometry. However, studies addressing stoichiometry at community level are rare and most often restricted to lacustrine planktonic systems, single streams or limited experimental setups.Relying on a stoichiometric database for >200 taxa and >1300 standardized sampling events of macroinvertebrate assemblages from the French national monitoring programme, we investigated the effect of water phosphorus and nitrogen load on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry.Community stoichiometry was significantly affected by water phosphorus concentration and the effect was strongest at low levels of nitrogen. While we could not confirm our hypothesis of increasing community %P (and decreasing C:P, N:P) with increasing water phosphorus concentrations for the overall community, it clearly followed this pattern for both Insecta and Malacostraca. General differences in the elemental composition among major taxonomic groups and a shift among these groups over the nutrient gradient probably explain the response of community stoichiometry. Our results show that assumptions from Ecological Stoichiometry Theory also hold at the community level, at least for two dominant taxa, and on a large spatial scale, with likely consequences for nutrient cycling and ecosystem function.

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A database of West European headwater macroinvertebrate stoichiometric traits

Cited by 6 publications

References 41 publications

Lessons from linking bio‐ and ecological traits to stoichiometric traits in stream macroinvertebrates

Lessons from linking bio‐ and ecological traits to stoichiometric traits in stream macroinvertebrates

A 34-year survey under phosphorus decline and warming: Consequences on stoichiometry and functional trait composition of freshwater macroinvertebrate communities

Effects of water nutrient concentrations on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry: a large-scale study

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