Substratum associations of benthic invertebrates in lowland and mountain streams
Institution:
1. University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen; Germany;2. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Max Emanuel-Straße 17, 1180 Vienna, Austria;3. Centre for Ecosystem Studies, Team Freshwater Ecology, Institut Alterra, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands;4. Kiel University, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel, Germany;5. Biodiversity and Climate Research Institute (BiK-F) & Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystraße 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany;1. Dipartimento di Chimica e Farmacia, Università di Sassari, Via Vienna 2, Sassari 07100, Italy;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Natura e del Territorio, Università di Sassari, Via Piandanna 4, Sassari 07100, Italy;1. Department of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States;2. Yerkes National Primate Research Center, 954 Gatewood Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, United States;1. Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa;2. School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia;3. Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa;1. Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales; Université Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6; INSU; CNRS: UM8190, France;2. Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et approches numériques, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, IPSL, UMR CNRS/IRD/MNHN, F-75005 Paris, France;3. School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK;4. Bodeker Scientific, New Zealand;5. Imperial College, London, UK;6. Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Brussels, Belgium;7. Canadian Ctr Climate Modelling & Anal, Victoria, BC, Canada;8. Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos and World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), Davos, Switzerland;9. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 16, CHN, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland;10. Univ Aquila, Dept Phys & Chem Sci, I-67100 Laquila, Italy;11. Natl Inst Environm Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan;12. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA;13. Enigma Scientific Publications, Winnersh, Berkshire, UK;1. Centro NanoMat/Cryssmat Lab/Cátedra de Física – DETEMA – Facultad de Química – Universidad de la República, Uruguay;2. Centro Interdisciplinario de Nanotecnología, Química y Física de Materiales – Universidad de la República, Uruguay;3. Laboratorio de filmes finos e superficies – Departamento de Física – Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
Abstract:
The preferences of aquatic invertebrate species for specific substrata at the river bottom have been subject of many studies. Several authors classified the substratum preferences of species or higher taxonomic units. Most of these compilations, however, are based on literature analyses and expert knowledge as opposed to the analysis of original data. To enhance our knowledge of invertebrate substratum preferences, we applied a ‘Multi-level pattern’ analysis based on almost 1000 substrate-specific invertebrate samples. The samples were taken in 18 streams in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, comprising a total of 40 sampling sites and equally covering lowland and mountain streams. The main objectives of our analysis were (I) to derive substratum preferences of taxa in lowland and mountain streams, (II) to compare the preferences with existing data and (III) to compare species substratum associations between lowland and mountain streams. Of the 290 taxa analyzed, 188 were associated significantly to specific substrata. Twenty-five taxa in lowland streams and 51 taxa in mountain streams prefer one or two substratum types (of nine substratum types considered in total). In contrast, 112 species (mountain streams n = 84, lowland streams n = 28) are associated significantly with a broader range of substrata. We compared the classifications derived from our data analysis with those provided in the freshwaterecology.info database (www.freshwaterecology.info). Our results support the existing classifications of substratum preferences in most cases (70%). For 25 species, substratum preferences for both lowland and mountain streams were derived, many of them indicating different substratum associations in the two stream groups. As substratum preferences differed between closely related species, preferences should always be given at the species level as opposed to coarser taxonomic units.
