RIVER HABITAT TEMPLET IN NEOTROPICAL STREAMS: A STUDY CASE ON MACROINVERTEBRATE SPECIES TRAITS
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2005 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Symposium RIVER BOTTOM VI Book of Abstracts |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Ecology |
| Keywords | species traits; fuzzy codes; spatial heterogeneity; temporal variability |
| Description | The River Habitat Templet theory predicts that habitat acts as a filter for a particular set of species traits. The present study examines this prediction in relation to spatial and temporal variability of four headwater tropical streams in Bolivia (South America). First, I studied and transcribed to fuzzy codes 8 traits of 82 neotropical taxa: i) food, ii) feeding habits, iii) respiration, iv) maximal body size, v) body flexibility, vi) body form, vii) specific adaptations to flow stress and viii) mobility and attachment to substrate. Co-inertia analysis was used to examine the relationship between organism traits composition and habitat types. Trends in organism traits were significantly related to spatial and temporal variability of habitats (r = 0.59; p < 0.001). The results show that increasing availability of refugia (large substrate) can reduce the effect of disturbance. Consequently, species with traits considered as disadvantageous in harsh flow conditions (e.g. very large organisms, surface swimmers, organisms with spherical body without flexibility) can still persist in disturbed habitats. General hypothesis of River Habitat Templet that present day habitat conditions in terms of disturbance (temporal variability) and abundance of refugia (spatial variability) are matched by present day traits in organisms is supported by my observations. The present study is, to my knowledge, the first attempt to code the traits of neotropical insect genera. This could be useful for future functional comparisons between macroinvertebrate communities of South America, or also for testing the convergence or divergence of species traits between different biogeographical realms |
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