Unravelling the joint effects of flow regime, climatic variability and dispersal mode on beta diversity of riverine communities

Rolls, Robert J.; Heino, Jani; Chessman, Bruce C.

doi:10.1111/fwb.12793

Cited by 31 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 86 publications

(126 reference statements)

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“…, Rolls et al. ). However, persistent low‐flow conditions have caused long‐term changes in community structure where species adapted to low‐flow conditions expanded their range and increased in abundance with complementary reductions in species favored by high flows (Lawson and Johnston ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing drought favors nonnative fishes in a dryland river: evidence from a multispecies demographic model

et al. 2019

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Understanding how novel biological assemblages are structured in relation to dynamic environmental regimes remains a central challenge in ecology. Demographic approaches to modeling species assemblages show promise because they seek to represent fundamental relationships between population dynamics and environmental conditions. In dryland rivers, rapidly changing climate conditions have shifted drought and flooding regimes with implications for fish communities. Our goals were to (1) develop a mechanistic multispecies demographic model that links native and nonnative species with river flow regimes, and (2) evaluate demographic responses in population and community structure to changing flow regimes. Each fish species was represented by a stage‐structured matrix, and species were coupled together into a multispecies framework through density‐dependent relationships in reproduction. Then, community dynamics were simulated through time using annual flow events classified from gaged streamflow data. We parameterized the model with vital rates and flow–response relationships for a community of native and nonnative fishes using literature‐derived values. We applied the simulation model to the Verde River (Arizona, USA), a major tributary within the Colorado River Basin, for the past half century (1964–2017). Model validation revealed a match between model projections and relative abundance trends observed in a long‐term fish monitoring dataset (1994–2008). At the beginning of the validation period (1994), model and survey observations showed that native species comprised approximately 80% of total abundance. Model projections beyond the survey data (2008–2017) predicted a shift from a native dominant to a nonnative dominant assemblage, coinciding with increasing drought frequency. Trade‐offs between native and nonnative species dominance emerged from differences in mortality in response to the changing sequence of major flow events including spring floods, summer high flows, and droughts. In conclusion, the demographic approach presented here provides a flexible modeling framework that is readily applied to other stream systems and species by adjusting or transferring, when appropriate, species vital rates and flow‐event thresholds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing drought favors nonnative fishes in a dryland river: evidence from a multispecies demographic model

et al. 2019

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“…Similarly, Rolls et al. () showed that prolonged droughts can lead to high regional community variability by decreasing connectivity and increasing environmental heterogeneity. The weaker explanatory power of environmental distance in IR during the rewetting period may result from an increase in stochastic processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do metacommunities vary through time? Intermittent rivers as model systems

Sarremejane

Cañedo‐Argüelles

Prat

et al. 2017

Journal of Biogeography

109

106

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Aim Metacommunity assembly mechanisms have been traditionally considered stable through time. However, in highly dynamic systems with varying local environmental conditions and patch connectivity, communities are likely to experience temporal shifts in their assembly mechanisms. Here, we used a set of perennial (PR) and intermittent (IR) rivers to assess if assembly mechanisms vary seasonally in response to flow intermittence. Location Mediterranean climate region (100,000 km2), Spain. Methods We used a modelling approach to assess the relative effect of environmental sorting and dispersal‐based processes on aquatic invertebrate metacommunities within and across river types at four distinct hydrological periods. We used local environmental variables to assess environmental sorting, and considered geographical, network and topographical distances as different dispersal surrogates. Linear mixed effect models accounting for the non‐independence of pairwise distances were used to assess the relationships between community dissimilarity and distance matrices. Results Assembly mechanisms were more temporally stable in PR than in IR. In PR, community dissimilarities were equally related to environmental and geographical distances suggesting codominance of species sorting and dispersal‐based assembly mechanisms. In IR, environmental distance best explained community dissimilarities during the dry period when flow cessation imposes strong environmental sorting, whereas metacommunity organization was much more stochastic during the rewetting period when high flows may randomly reorganize communities. Dispersal processes dominated assembly mechanisms between PR and IR during the rewetting period suggesting an increase in recolonization processes linking both river types following the dry period. Geographical and topographical distances best explained community variability, suggesting that overland dispersal dominates in river networks fragmented by drying events. Main conclusions Aquatic invertebrate metacommunity assembly mechanisms vary seasonally in response to changes in hydrological conditions. The temporal dimension should be better incorporated into metacommunity studies in highly dynamic systems such as intermittent rivers.

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“…In this Special Issue, we specifically seek to examine how IR ecology is maturing and how some key questions in ecology can be addressed through the study of IRs as highly dynamic ecosystems. We bring together 13 papers, including this introduction, spanning observational case studies (Corti & Datry, ; Datry, Bonada & Heino, ; Datry et al ., ; Marshall et al ., ; Rolls, Heino & Chessman, ; Siebers et al ., ; Stromberg & Merritt, ; Welter & Fisher, ; Whitney et al ., ), field (Vander Vorste, Malard & Datry, ) and laboratory (Stubbington et al ., ) experiments, and reviews (Leigh et al ., ).…”

Section: From Humble Beginnings the Future Of Ir Ecology Is Brightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges, developments and perspectives in intermittent river ecology

2016

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Summary Although more than half the world's river networks comprise channels that periodically cease to flow and dry [intermittent rivers (IRs)], river ecology was largely developed from and for perennial systems. Ecological knowledge of IRs is rapidly increasing, so there is a need to synthesise this knowledge and deepen ecological understanding. In this Special Issue, we bring together 13 papers spanning observational case studies, field and laboratory experiments and reviews to guide research and management in this productive field of freshwater science. We summarise new developments in IR ecology, identify research gaps and needs, and address how the study of IRs as highly dynamic ecosystems informs ecological understanding more broadly. This series of articles reveals that contemporary IR ecology is a multifaceted and maturing field of research at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial ecology. This research contributes to fresh water and general ecology by testing concepts across a range of topics, including disturbance ecology, metacommunity ecology and coupled aquatic‐terrestrial ecosystems. Drying affects flow continuity through time and flow connectivity across longitudinal, lateral and vertical dimensions of space, which aligns well with the recent emphasis of mainstream ecology on meta‐system perspectives. Although most articles here focus on the wet phase, there is growing interest in dry phases, and in the terrestrial vegetation and invertebrate assemblages living in and along IR channels. We encourage interdisciplinary studies on IRs to further blur the demarcation between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and develop more integrated perspectives. As a result of climate change and human modification of landscapes and waterways, flooding and drought are expected to become more extreme and widespread. Shifts in streamflow regimes from perennial to intermittent may exacerbate the duration and frequency of dry phases in IRs with serious implications for river ecosystems and the quality and diversity of services they provide.

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Unravelling the joint effects of flow regime, climatic variability and dispersal mode on beta diversity of riverine communities

Cited by 31 publications

References 86 publications

Increasing drought favors nonnative fishes in a dryland river: evidence from a multispecies demographic model

Increasing drought favors nonnative fishes in a dryland river: evidence from a multispecies demographic model

Do metacommunities vary through time? Intermittent rivers as model systems

Challenges, developments and perspectives in intermittent river ecology

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