Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones

Tiegs, Scott D.; Costello, David M.; Isken, Mark W.; Woodward, Guy; McIntyre, Peter B.; Gessner, Mark O.; Chauvet, Éric; Griffiths, Natalie A.; Flecker, Alexander S.; Acuña, Vicenç; Albariño, Ricardo; Allen, Daniel C.; Alonso, Cecilia; Andino, Patricio; Arango, Clay P.; Aroviita, Jukka; Barbosa, Marcus Vinícius Moreira; Barmuta, Leon A.; Baxter, Colden V.; Bell, Thomas D. C.; Bellinger, Brent J.; Boyero, Luz; Brown, Lee E.; Bruder, Andreas; Bruesewitz, Denise A.; Burdon, Francis J.; Callisto, Marcos; Canhoto, Cristina; Capps, Krista A.; Castillo, María M.; Clapcott, Joanne E.; Colas, Fanny; Colón-Gaud, Checo; Cornut, Julien; Crespo‐Pérez, Verónica; Cross, Wyatt F.; Culp, Joseph M.; Danger, Michaël; Dangles, Olivier; Eyto, Elvira de; Derry, Alison M.; Villanueva, Verónica Díaz; Douglas, Michael M.; Elosegi, Arturo; Encalada, Andrea C.; Entrekin, Sally A.; Espinosa, Rodrigo; Ethaiya, Diana; Ferreira, Verónica; Ferriol, Carmen; Flanagan, Kyla M.; Fleituch, Tadeusz; Shah, Jennifer J. Follstad; Barbosa, André Frainer; Friberg, Nikolai; Frost, Paul C.; García, Erica A.; Lago, Liliana García; Soto, Pavel Ernesto García; Ghate, Sudeep D.; Giling, Darren P.; Gilmer, Alan; Gonçalves, José F.; Gonzales, Rosario Karina; Graça, Manuel A. S.; Grace, Mike; Grossart, Hans‐Peter; Guérold, François; Gulis, Vladislav; Hepp, Luiz Ubiratan; Higgins, Scott N.; Hishi, Takuo; Huddart, Joseph; Hudson, John; Imberger, Samantha Jane; Iñiguez–Armijos, Carlos; Iwata, Tomoya; Janetski, David J.; Jennings, Eleanor; Kirkwood, Andrea E.; Koning, Aaron A.; Kosten, Sarian; Kuehn, Kevin A.; Laudon, Hjalmar; Leavitt, Peter R.; Silva, Aurea L. Lemes da; Leroux, Shawn J.; LeRoy, Carri J.; Lisi, Peter J.; MacKenzie, Richard A.; Marcarelli, Amy; Masese, Frank O.; McKie, Brendan G.; Medeiros, Adriana O.; Meissner, Kristian; Miliša, Marko; Mishra, Shailendra; Miyake, Yo; Moerke, Ashley H.; Mombrikotb, Shorok; Mooney, R. M.; Moulton, Timothy P.; Muotka, Timo; Negishi, Junjiro N.; Neres‐Lima, Vinicius; Nieminen, Mika; Nimptsch, Jorge; Ondruch, Jakub; Paavola, Riku; Pardo, Isabel; Patrick, Christopher J.; Peeters, E.T.H.M.; Pozo, Jesús; Pringle, Catherine M.; Prussian, Aaron; Quenta, Estefania; Quesada, Antonio; Reid, Brian; Richardson, John S.; Rigosi, Anna; Rincón, José; Rîşnoveanu, Geta; Robinson, Christopher T.; Rodríguez-Gallego, Lorena; Royer, Todd V.; Rusak, James A.; Santamans, Anna C.; Selmeczy, Géza B.; Simiyu, Gelas Muse; Skuja, Agnija; Smykla, Jerzy; Sridhar, Kandikere R.; Sponseller, Ryan A.; Stoler, Aaron B.; Swan, Christopher M.; Szlag, David C.; Mello, Franco Teixeira de; Tonkin, Jonathan D.; Uusheimo, Sari; Veach, Allison M.; Vilbaste, Sirje; Vought, Lena B. M.; Wang, Chiao‐Ping; Webster, Jackson R.; Wilson, Paul; Woelfl, Stefan; Xenopoulos, Marguerite A.; Yates, Adam G.; Yoshimura, Chihiro; Yule, Catherine M.; Zhang, Yixin; Zwart, Jacob A.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav0486

Cited by 138 publications

(152 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…Supporting this, Tiegs et al. () report an impressive experiment using constant substrata type to measure decomposition that demonstrated higher rates of decomposition at lower latitudes.…”

Section: Biotic Characteristics Across Biome Gradients: What Is a Frementioning

confidence: 91%

The freshwater biome gradient framework: predicting macroscale properties based on latitude, altitude, and precipitation

et al. 2019

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Understanding global ecological patterns and processes, from biogeochemical to biogeographical, requires broad‐scale macrosystems context for comparing and contrasting ecosystems. Climate gradients (precipitation and temperature) and other continental‐scale patterns shape freshwater environments due to their influences on terrestrial environments and their direct and indirect effects on the abiotic and biotic characteristics of lakes, streams, and wetlands. We combined literature review, analyses of open access data, and logical argument to assess abiotic and biotic characters of freshwater systems across gradients of latitude and elevation that drive precipitation, temperature, and other variability. We explored the predictive value of analyzing patterns in freshwater ecosystems at the global macrosystems scale. We found many patterns based on climate, particularly those dependent upon hydrologic characteristics and linked to characteristics of terrestrial biomes. For example, continental waters of dry areas will generally be widely dispersed and have higher probability of drying and network disconnection, greater temperatures, greater inorganic turbidity, greater salinity, and lower riparian canopy cover relative to areas with high precipitation. These factors will influence local community composition and ecosystem rates. Enough studies are now available at the continental or global scale to start to characterize patterns under a coherent conceptual framework, though considerable gaps exist in the tropics and less developed regions. We present illustrative global‐scale trends of abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic impacts in freshwater ecosystems across gradients of precipitation and temperature to further understanding of broad‐scale trends and to aid prediction in the face of global change. We view freshwater systems as occurring across arrays of multiple gradients (including latitude, altitude, and precipitation) rather than areas with specific boundaries. While terrestrial biomes capture some variability along these gradients that influence freshwaters, other features such as, slope, geology, and historical glaciation also influence freshwaters. Our conceptual framework is not so much a single hypothesis as a way to logically characterize patterns in freshwaters at scales relevant to (1) evolutionary processes that give rise to freshwater biodiversity, (2) regulatory units that influence freshwater ecosystems, and (3) the current scope of anthropogenic impacts on freshwaters and the vital ecosystem services they provide.

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“…Supporting this, Tiegs et al. () report an impressive experiment using constant substrata type to measure decomposition that demonstrated higher rates of decomposition at lower latitudes.…”

Section: Biotic Characteristics Across Biome Gradients: What Is a Frementioning

confidence: 91%

The freshwater biome gradient framework: predicting macroscale properties based on latitude, altitude, and precipitation

et al. 2019

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“…Lack of consistency in the quality of decomposing material over larger spatial and temporal scales is a remaining challenge for monitoring programs (Tiegs et al. ). To confront this challenge, decomposition rate can be estimated using a recently developed standardized cotton‐strip assay, where cotton strips are incubated in‐stream and subsequently measured for their tensile strength loss (i.e., ability to resist breaking when pulled apart; Tiegs et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring function and structure of urban headwater streams with citizen scientists

2019

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Headwater streams accumulate, process, and export organic materials for use in downstream environments. Decomposition of organic material, an important ecosystem function, may be sensitive to land cover changes in urbanizing regions since headwater stream processes tend to be tightly coupled with riparian and catchment characteristics. Headwaters represent 70–80% of total stream length in watersheds but are disproportionately converted to drainage infrastructure or buried with urban development. Cumulatively, this loss may result in substantial changes to physical and biological downstream processes. From a monitoring perspective, headwaters are largely ignored compared with fishable/navigable waterways for planning decisions, so their structural and functional variability is not well understood. Here, we engaged citizen scientists to contribute data on this variability and to evaluate the sensitivity of standardized cotton‐strip decomposition rates to multiscale factors across headwaters with varying landscape conditions in the Greater Toronto Area (York Region), Canada. These factors included stream, riparian vegetation, and catchment characteristics. We expected decomposition rates to be similarly sensitive to local‐ and catchment‐scale factors because of the strong links between headwater catchment and stream processes. We also expected a hump‐shaped distribution of decomposition rates across a gradient of urban cover, with stimulating effects at low to moderate cover but deleterious effects at high urban cover. We found that decomposition rate was most sensitive to local‐scale factors (e.g., strip burial, stream velocity, and both local upland riparian vegetation density and topography) rather than whole catchment properties. We did not find the expected hump‐shaped distribution with urban cover and suggest that more mechanistic studies are needed for understanding cotton‐strip decomposition to control for local factors in determining the scale at which decomposition rate is most sensitive to land cover change.

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“…Our results suggest that extrinsic factors (e.g., latitude and water temperature) are not necessarily the dominant factors in regulating litter decomposition in streams at the global scale. We found no significant differences in litter decomposition rates among tropical, temperate and cold climates, although both temperature and the inherent capacity of ecosystems to decompose organic matter decrease with latitude (Tiegs et al, ). No differences in decomposition rates across climate zones might result from the following reasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Leaf litter traits predominantly control litter decomposition in streams worldwide

Zhang

Cheng

Geng

et al. 2019

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim Leaf litter decomposition in freshwater ecosystems is a vital process linking ecosystem nutrient cycling, energy transfer and trophic interactions. In comparison to terrestrial ecosystems, in which researchers find that litter traits predominantly regulate litter decomposition worldwide, the dominant factors controlling its decomposition in aquatic ecosystems are still debated, with global patterns not well documented. Here, we aimed to explore general patterns and key drivers (e.g., litter traits, climate and water characteristics) of leaf litter decomposition in streams worldwide. Location Global. Time period 1977–2018. Major taxa studied Leaf litter. Methods We synthesized 1,707 records of litter decomposition in streams from 275 studies. We explored variations in decomposition rates among climate zones and tree functional types and between mesh size groups. Regressions were performed to identify the factors that played dominant roles in litter decomposition globally. Results Litter decomposition rates did not differ among tropical, temperate and cold climate zones. Decomposition rates of litter from evergreen conifer trees were much lower than those of deciduous and evergreen broadleaf trees, attributed to the low quality of litter from evergreen conifers. No significant differences were found between decomposition rates of litter from deciduous and evergreen broadleaf trees. Additionally, litter decomposition rates were much higher in coarse‐ than in fine‐mesh bags, which controled the entrance of decomposers of different body sizes. Multiple regressions showed that litter traits (including lignin, C:N ratio) and elevation were the most important factors in regulating leaf litter decomposition. Main conclusions Litter traits predominantly control leaf litter decomposition in streams worldwide. Although further analyses are necessary to explore whether commonalities of the predominant role of litter traits in decomposition exist in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, our findings could contribute to the use of trait‐based approaches in modelling the decomposition of litter in streams globally and exploring mechanisms of land–water–atmosphere carbon fluxes.

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Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones

Abstract: An experiment in >1000 river and riparian sites found spatial patterns and controls of carbon processing at the global scale.

Cited by 138 publications

References 29 publications

The freshwater biome gradient framework: predicting macroscale properties based on latitude, altitude, and precipitation

The freshwater biome gradient framework: predicting macroscale properties based on latitude, altitude, and precipitation

Measuring function and structure of urban headwater streams with citizen scientists

Leaf litter traits predominantly control litter decomposition in streams worldwide

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