Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages and Water Quality in Rivers of the Dry Tropics of Costa Rica

Kohlmann, Bert; Vásquez, Danny; Arroyo, Alejandra; Springer, Mónika

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2021.660260

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This study was developed in the Central American Dry Corridor, a region that requires special attention since it is vulnerable to climate change and needs to establish effective and multidisciplinary research initiatives to confront its effects (Gotlieb et al, 2019 ; Kreft et al, 2014 ). This region is characterized by a dry tropical forest with a high taxonomic richness of aquatic macroinvertebrates, although knowledge of this ecosystem is limited (Kohlmann et al, 2021 ). This high diversity is derived from the early migratory settlement of dry forest, as this was the first to colonize Central America from Mexico around 2.5 Mya (Willis et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of aquatic macroinvertebrates in a river from the dry corridor of Nicaragua using biological indices and DNA barcoding

Mendoza‐Ramírez¹,

Páiz‐Medina²,

Salvatierra‐Suárez³

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Aquatic macroinvertebrates are widely used as indicators for water quality assessment around the world. Modern strategies for environmental assessment implement molecular analysis to delimitate species of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Delimitation methods have been established to determine boundaries between species units using sequencing data from DNA barcodes and serve as first exploratory tools for taxonomic revisions. This is useful in regions such as the neotropics where aquatic macroinvertebrate habitats are threatened by human interference and DNA databases remain understudied. We asked whether the biodiversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in a stream in Nicaragua, within the Central American Dry Corridor, could be characterized with biological indices and DNA barcoding. In this study, we combined regional biological indices (BMWP‐CR, IBF‐SV‐2010) along with distance‐based (ASAP, BIN) and tree‐based (GMYC, bPTP) delimitation methods, as well as nucleotide BLAST in public barcode databases. We collected samples from the upper, middle, and low reaches of the Petaquilla river. The three sites presented excellent water quality with the BMWP‐CR index, but evidence of high organic pollution was found in the middle reach with the IBF‐SV‐2010 index. We report a total of 219 COI sequences successfully generated from 18 families and 8 orders. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) designation ranged from 69 to 73 using the four methods, with a congruency of 92% for barcode assignation. Nucleotide BLAST identified 14 species (27.4% of barcodes) and 33 genera (39.3% of barcodes) from query sequences in GenBank and BOLD system databases. This small number of identified OTUs may be explained by the paucity of molecular data from the Neotropical region. Our study provides valuable information about the characterization of macroinvertebrate families that are important biological indicators for the assessment of water quality in Nicaragua. The application of molecular approaches will allow the study of local diversity and further improve the application of molecular techniques for biomonitoring.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of aquatic macroinvertebrates in a river from the dry corridor of Nicaragua using biological indices and DNA barcoding

Mendoza‐Ramírez¹,

Páiz‐Medina²,

Salvatierra‐Suárez³

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…It is widely recognized that the structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages reflects their ecological condition, habitat heterogeneity, and water quality [14][15][16]. Several studies have described the trophic functional groups and their relationship with the physical and chemical characteristics of river ecosystems in intertropical regions of America [17][18][19]. However, as far as we know, few studies have addressed the effect of environmental variables on the functional traits and functional diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in tropical rivers of America [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of the Multidimensional Functional Space of the Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in a Biosphere Reserve (Central México)

et al. 2021

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The analysis of functional diversity has shown to be more sensitive to the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the assemblages of aquatic macroinvertebrates than the classical analyses of structural ecology. However, this ecological analysis perspective has not been fully explored in tropical environments of America. Protected Natural Areas (PNAs) such as biosphere reserves can be a benchmark regarding structural and functional distribution patterns worldwide, so the characterization of the functional space of biological assemblages in these sites is necessary to promote biodiversity conservation efforts. Our work characterized the multidimensional functional space of the macroinvertebrate assemblages from an ecosystemic approach by main currents, involving a total of 15 study sites encompassing different impact and human influence scenarios, which were monitored in two contrasting seasons. We calculated functional diversity indices (dispersion, richness, divergence, evenness, specialization, and originality) from biological and ecological traits of the macroinvertebrate assemblages and related these indices to the physicochemical characteristics of water and four environmental indices (Water Quality Index, habitat quality, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and vegetation cover and land use). Our results show that the indices of functional richness, evenness, and functional specialization were sensitive to disturbance caused by salinization, concentration of nutrients and organic matter, and even to the occurrence of a forest fire in the reserve during one of the sampling seasons. These findings support the conclusion that the changes and relationships between the functional diversity indices and the physicochemical parameters and environmental indices considered were suitable for evaluating the ecological conditions within the reserve.

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“…Several studies on the ecology of aquatic insects in Latin America have been reported, with emphasis on the relationship with abiotic factors (Ramírez & Gutierrez-Fonseca, 2014a). For example, recently, Kohlmann et al (2021) include in their study a analyzes of the relationships between functional feeding groups of aquatic macroinvertebrates with physicochemical such as NO 3− K + , biochemical oxigen demand (BDO), oxygen saturation, and pH; Díaz-Rojas et al (2020) relates depth, flow velocity, channel width and roughness of the substrate with macroinvertebrate assemblages composition and functional traits; Quesada-Alvarado et al (2020) describe the relationship between the aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages with physicochemical and habitat variables, such as NO 3− , substrate and flow; and, Mosquera-Restrepo & Peña-Salamanca (2019) explain the relationships between aquatic macroinvertebrates assemblages with dissolved oxygen, BOD, total dissolved solids, and turbidity.…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal organization of aquatic insect assemblages in two subtropical river drainages

Durán-Rodríguez¹

2022

Hidrobiológica

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Background. The spatial and temporal changes of assemblages of aquatic insect can be used to detect the anthropic impacts that influence the biological communities. Goals. We compared the assemblages of aquatic insect in 1997 and 2014 in two subtropical river drainages, the association with water characteristics, and we discuss their implications for ecosystems conservation. Methods. True diversity of the aquatic insect fauna at family level and their community structure for 27 study sites in 1997 and 2014 were assessed. Multivariate analyzes were used to compare aquatic insect assemblages and the abundance of functional feeding groups. Results. There were significant differences in the dissolved oxygen (DO) of the water between 1997 and 2014, decreasing its values. Other variables correlated to DO were also modified, with a decrease in pH and an increase in temperature. We found a correlation between reduction of DO and water pH with a decline in the overall abundance of aquatic insects; also, with shifts in the community structure, from the decrease of groups such as some Ephemeroptera and scrapers, to the increase in opportunistic families such as Chironomidae, Culicidae, and other predator families such as Coenagrionidae, Corixidae and Veliidae, and more abundance of collectors. Families such as Heptageniidae and Caenidae decreased in abundance, as well as other benthic groups. Conclusions. The assemblages of aquatic insect are useful to indicate a generalized degradation of environmental conditions across localities and time in two subtropical river drainages, related to water quality degradation symptoms such as reduction of pH levels and dissolved oxygen, usually associated with anthropogenic stressors.

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Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages and Water Quality in Rivers of the Dry Tropics of Costa Rica

Cited by 7 publications

References 48 publications

A survey of aquatic macroinvertebrates in a river from the dry corridor of Nicaragua using biological indices and DNA barcoding

A survey of aquatic macroinvertebrates in a river from the dry corridor of Nicaragua using biological indices and DNA barcoding

Characterization of the Multidimensional Functional Space of the Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in a Biosphere Reserve (Central México)

Spatial and temporal organization of aquatic insect assemblages in two subtropical river drainages

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