Drought effects on the colonization of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the early successional phases in experimental mesocosm wetlands

Abstract

We investigated the drought effects on the colonization rate and pattern of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in newly created mesocosm wetlands in the central Korean Peninsula, from June 2011 to June 2013. The comparison was made between the initial colonization after mesocosm construction (pre-drought) and the recolonization after a drought event (post-drought) with a drought period of 50 days between them. In addition, we categorized communities according to their biological traits in relation to drought. Our results showed that aquatic vegetation abundance and covering degree were higher in post-drought than in pre-drought, thereby influencing rapid colonization. Drought-resistant benthic macroinvertebrates colonized rapidly in post-drought; consequently, the colonization speed was 2.5-fold higher in postdrought than in pre-drought. We classified the benthic macroinvertebrate taxa into three groups: (1) a resistant group which generally emerged after the initial colonization period (e.g., Mollusca, Turbellaria, and Oligochaeta); (2) a sensitive group with diverse life history strategies and biological traits such as active migration or population decline after drought disturbance (e.g., Diptera: Chironominae, Odonata: Orthetrum, Coleoptera: Agabus and Rhantus); and (3) a seasonal group, which emerged only during certain periods and were not markedly influenced by drought (e.g., Ephemeroptera: Cloeon, Diptera: Culicidae, Odonata: Zygoptera and Pantala). Our findings elucidated the effects of drought on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in wetlands by using a mesocosm experiment.

Benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity improved with irrigation ponds linked to a rice paddy field

“…Meanwhile, Kim et al . ( ) defined Mollusca and Oligochaeta as a “resistant group” towards drought. Kim et al .…”

“…Lymnaidae) and Annelida (e.g., Tubificidae), which have adapted well to living in high water temperature and low dissolved oxygen conditions (McCafferty 1983;Walker 1987;Meyer & Whiles 2008). Meanwhile, Kim et al ( 2014) defined Mollusca and Oligochaeta as a "resistant group" towards drought. Kim et al ( 2014) carried out a mesocosm experiment about the drought effects on the colonization of benthic macroinvertebrate communities.…”

“…Meanwhile, Kim et al ( 2014) defined Mollusca and Oligochaeta as a "resistant group" towards drought. Kim et al ( 2014) carried out a mesocosm experiment about the drought effects on the colonization of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. In their study, Mollusca, Turbellaria and Oligochaeta showed increasing trends during the post-drought period.…”

Impact of rainfall intensity on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in a mountain stream under the East Asian monsoon climate

“…Global warming is the most likely cause of climate changes that give rise to a number of local, regional and global effects (Hardy 2003). Over the last few decades, studies for the relationship between the climate changes and variation of seasonal precipitation in East Asian monsoon regions have been conducted (Lee et al 2004;Yang 2006;Kim et al 2014). The monsoon rainy season starts in early June, late June and early July in central China and southern Japan, in Korea and in northern China, respectively.…”

Response of a littoral macroinvertebrate assemblage to a persistent hydrological drought in a permanent mountain shallow lake from northwestern Spain

“…We have some knowledge about the response of river macroinvertebrates assemblages to drought (Boulton, 2003;Griswold et al, 2008;Boix et al, 2010;Chessman, 2015), but very little referring lakes or ponds. Some interesting contributions are the studies by Jeffries (1994) about artificial ponds, Mackay et al (2010) in estuarine lakes or Chase (2007) and Kim et al (2014) in experimental ponds or mesocosms, and Gérard (2000) in a macroinvertebrate study after a several drought event, as well as the works by Gérard (2001) and Balogh et al (2008) on particular taxa. The effects of drought on pond macroinvertebrates reported by these authors are often reduced richness, changes in taxonomical composition or both at the same time.…”