Hydrology shapes taxonomic and functional structure of desert stream invertebrate communities

Schriever, Tiffany A.; Bogan, Michael T.; Boersma, Kate S.; Cañedo‐Argüelles, Miguel; Jaeger, Kristin L.; Olden, Julian D.; Lytle, David A.

doi:10.1086/680518

Cited by 90 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Thus, the variation in a restricted number of species may result in a high impact for the functional β-diversity (Lake, 2011). Thus, in habitats with high environmental heterogeneity and low species abundance, a change in environmental conditions can eliminate some species thus causing loss of unique traits (Schriever et al, 2015). Similar results were also obtained by Faulwetter et al (2015) by means of computer-simulated scenarios in a set of Mediterranean coastal lagoons.…”

Section: St Level Functional and Taxonomic β-Diversity Asynchronicitysupporting

confidence: 56%

Multi-scale functional and taxonomic β-diversity of the macroinvertebrate communities in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon

et al. 2017

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Benthic macroinvertebrate communities form the basis of the intricate lagoonal food web. Understanding their functional and taxonomic response, from a β-diversity perspective, is essential to disclose underlying patterns with potential applicability in conservation and management actions. Within the central lagoon of Messolonghi we studied the main environmental components structuring the macroinvertebrate community. We analyzed the β-taxonomic and β-functional diversity across the main habitats and seasons, over a year time frame. Our results outline habitat type and vegetation biomass as the major factors structuring the communities. We found environmental variability to have a positive correlation with functional β-diversity, however no correlation was found with taxonomic β-diversity. Across the seasons an asynchronous response of the functional and taxonomic β-diversity was identified. The taxonomic composition displayed significant heterogeneity during the driest period and the functional during the rainy season. Across the habitats the unvegetated presented higher taxonomic homogeneity and functionally heterogeneity, contrary the vegetated habitats present higher taxonomic variability and functional homogeneity. Across the seasons and habitats a pattern of functional redundancy and taxonomic replacement was identified. Besides high functional turnover versus low taxonomic turnover was documented in an anthropogenic organically enriched habitat We conclude that habitats display independent functional and taxonomic seasonal patterns, thus different processes may contribute to their variability. The framework presented here highlights the importance of studying both β-diversity components framed in a multiscale approach to better understand ecological processes and variability patterns. These results are important to understand macroinvertebrate community assembly processes and are valuable for conservation purposes.

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Section: St Level Functional and Taxonomic β-Diversity Asynchronicitysupporting

confidence: 56%

Multi-scale functional and taxonomic β-diversity of the macroinvertebrate communities in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon

et al. 2017

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“…Kennen, Riva‐Murray, & Beaulieu, ; Steel, Peek, Lusardi, & Yarnell, ; Warfe, Hardie, Uytendaal, Bobbi, & Barmuta, ) and function of instream communities (e.g. Mims & Olden, ; Schriever et al., ; White, Hill, et al., ), although the latter has been comparatively understudied worldwide (Arthington et al., ; Poff, ). However, statistical models in this study did not detect a significant influence of hydrological characteristics for some community response metrics and flow–ecology relationships explained relatively low (≤10%) amounts of statistical variation, which potentially reflects the following five factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat‐specific invertebrate responses to hydrological variability, anthropogenic flow alterations, and hydraulic conditions

et al. 2019

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Quantifying ecological responses to river flow regimes is a key scientific approach underpinning many environmental flow (e‐flow) strategies. Incorporating habitat‐scale influences (e.g. substrate composition and organic matter cover) within e‐flow frameworks has the potential to provide a broader understanding of the causal mechanisms shaping instream communities, which may be used to guide river management strategies. In this study, we examined invertebrate communities inhabiting three distinct habitat groups (HGs—defined by coarse substrates, fine sediments, and the fine‐leaved macrophyte Ranunculus sp.) across four rivers (each comprising two study sites) within a single catchment. We tested the structural and functional responses of communities inhabiting different HGs to three sets of flow‐related characteristics: (1) antecedent hydrological (discharge—m3/s) variability; (2) antecedent anthropogenic flow alterations (percentage of discharge added to or removed from the river by human activity); and (3) proximal hydraulic conditions (characterised by the Froude number). The former two were derived from groundwater model daily time series in the year prior to the collection of each invertebrate sample, while the latter was collected at the point of sampling. While significant effects of hydrological and anthropogenic flow alteration indices were detected, Froude number exerted the greatest statistical influence on invertebrate communities. This highlights that habitat‐scale hydraulic conditions to which biota are exposed at the time of sampling are a key influence on the structure and function of invertebrate communities. Mixed‐effect models testing invertebrate community responses to flow‐related characteristics, most notably Froude number, improved when a HG interaction term was incorporated. This highlights that different mineralogical and organic habitat patches mediate ecological responses to hydraulic conditions. This can be attributed to HGs supporting distinct taxonomic and functional compositions and/or providing unique ecological functions (e.g. flow refuges), which alter how instream communities respond to hydraulic conditions. While the individual importance of both flow and small‐scale habitat effects on instream biota has been widely reported, this study provides rare evidence on how their interactive effects have a significant influence on riverine ecosystems. These findings suggest that river management strategies and e‐flow frameworks should not only aim to create a mosaic of riverine habitats that support ecosystem functioning, but also consider the management of local hydraulic conditions within habitat patches to support specific taxonomic and functional compositions.

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“…Metrics in bold are used in this study. If used in other studies, examples of use are cited as follows: (1) Arscott et al, ; (2) King, Scoggins, & Porras, ; (3) Datry et al, ; (4) Bogan et al, ; (5) Schriever et al, ; (6) Gallart et al, . Many other studies have used perennial versus intermittent designations and are not cited here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic stream network intermittence explains emergent dissolved organic carbon chemostasis in headwaters

Hale

Godsey

2019

Hydrological Processes

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Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations vary among headwaters, with variation typically decreasing with watershed area. We hypothesized that streamflow intermittence could be an important source of variation in DOC concentrations across a small watershed, through (a) temporal legacies of drying on organic matter accumulation and biotic communities and (b) spatial patterns of connectivity with DOC sources. To test these hypotheses, we conducted three synoptic water chemistry sampling campaigns across a 25.5‐km2 watershed in south‐eastern Idaho during early spring, late summer, and late fall. Using changepoint analysis, we found that DOC variability collapsed at a consistent location (watershed areas ~1.3 to ~1.8 km2) across seasons, which coincided with the watershed area where variability in streamflow intermittence collapsed (~1.5 km2). To test hypothesized mechanisms through which intermittence may affect DOC, we developed temporal, spatial, and spatio‐temporal metrics of streamflow intermittence and related these to DOC concentrations. Streamflow intermittence was a strong predictor of DOC across seasons, but different metrics predicted DOC depending on season. Seasonal changes in the effects of intermittence on DOC reflected seasonal changes from instream to flowpath controls. A metric that captured spatial connectivity to sources significantly predicted DOC during high flows, when DOC is typically controlled by transport. In contrast, a reach‐scale temporal metric of intermittence predicted DOC during the late growing season, when DOC is typically controlled by instream processes and when legacy effects of drying (e.g., diminished biological communities) would likely affect DOC. The effects of intermittence on DOC extend beyond temporal legacies at a point. Our results suggest that legacy effects of intermittence do not propagate downstream in this system. Instead, snapshots of spatial patterns of intermittence upstream of a reach are critical for understanding spatial patterns of DOC through connectivity to DOC sources, and these processes drive patterns of DOC even in perennial reaches.

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Hydrology shapes taxonomic and functional structure of desert stream invertebrate communities

Cited by 90 publications

References 62 publications

Multi-scale functional and taxonomic β-diversity of the macroinvertebrate communities in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon

Multi-scale functional and taxonomic β-diversity of the macroinvertebrate communities in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon

Habitat‐specific invertebrate responses to hydrological variability, anthropogenic flow alterations, and hydraulic conditions

Dynamic stream network intermittence explains emergent dissolved organic carbon chemostasis in headwaters

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