Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Macroinvertebrates at the source: flow duration and seasonality drive biodiversity and trait composition in rheocrene springs of the Western Allegheny Plateau, USA

Macroinvertebrates at the source: flow duration and seasonality drive biodiversity and trait... Documenting flow regimes and the ecology of source headwater streams has gained considerable attention for scientific and regulatory purposes. These streams do not appear on standard maps, and local physiographic and climatologic conditions can control their origins. We investigated macroinvertebrate assemblages seasonally and in relation to flow duration, catchment and habitat variables within 14 source headwaters (< 1 ha) in the Western Allegheny Plateau over a 19-month period. We classified 6 perennial (P) and 8 intermittent (I) streams directly with continuous flow data loggers. Several biological and trait-based metrics could distinguish flow class, but few instream physical measures could. Macroinvertebrate metrics and assemblage dispersion varied seasonally and responded significantly along a gradient of total flow duration. Separate indicator species analyses generated 22 genera and 15 families with significant affinities to P streams. Richness of P-indicator taxa was also strongly correlated with flow duration gradients, and we estimated a total flow duration changepoint at 77% (3 indicator families) followed by a sharp increase in richness. Two rapid field-based flow duration methods (NC Stream Identification index and OH Headwater Habitat Evaluation index) could distinguish upstream ephemeral reaches from P and I reaches, but misclassified P as I more frequently. Our findings highlight that diverse coldwater macroinvertebrate assemblages inhabited extremely small, low-discharge springs in the region, and responded with flow duration. These source headwater habitats are susceptible to human disturbance and should be monitored as is routinely done in larger lotic systems. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Ecology Springer Journals

Macroinvertebrates at the source: flow duration and seasonality drive biodiversity and trait composition in rheocrene springs of the Western Allegheny Plateau, USA

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/macroinvertebrates-at-the-source-flow-duration-and-seasonality-drive-Z3RdCwK8jq

References (73)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply 2021
ISSN
1386-2588
eISSN
1573-5125
DOI
10.1007/s10452-021-09900-2
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Documenting flow regimes and the ecology of source headwater streams has gained considerable attention for scientific and regulatory purposes. These streams do not appear on standard maps, and local physiographic and climatologic conditions can control their origins. We investigated macroinvertebrate assemblages seasonally and in relation to flow duration, catchment and habitat variables within 14 source headwaters (< 1 ha) in the Western Allegheny Plateau over a 19-month period. We classified 6 perennial (P) and 8 intermittent (I) streams directly with continuous flow data loggers. Several biological and trait-based metrics could distinguish flow class, but few instream physical measures could. Macroinvertebrate metrics and assemblage dispersion varied seasonally and responded significantly along a gradient of total flow duration. Separate indicator species analyses generated 22 genera and 15 families with significant affinities to P streams. Richness of P-indicator taxa was also strongly correlated with flow duration gradients, and we estimated a total flow duration changepoint at 77% (3 indicator families) followed by a sharp increase in richness. Two rapid field-based flow duration methods (NC Stream Identification index and OH Headwater Habitat Evaluation index) could distinguish upstream ephemeral reaches from P and I reaches, but misclassified P as I more frequently. Our findings highlight that diverse coldwater macroinvertebrate assemblages inhabited extremely small, low-discharge springs in the region, and responded with flow duration. These source headwater habitats are susceptible to human disturbance and should be monitored as is routinely done in larger lotic systems.

Journal

Aquatic EcologySpringer Journals

Published: Mar 1, 2022

Keywords: Headwater streams; Intermittent streams; Flow permanence; Indicators

There are no references for this article.