Effects of changing climate on European stream invertebrate communities: A long-term data analysis

Jourdan, Jonas; O’Hara, Robert B.; Bottarin, Roberta; Huttunen, Kaisa‐Leena; Kuemmerlen, Mathias; Monteith, Don; Muotka, Timo; Ozoliņš, Dāvis; Paavola, Riku; Pilotto, Francesca; Spriņģe, Gunta; Skuja, Agnija; Sundermann, Andrea; Tonkin, Jonathan D.; Haase, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.242

Cited by 96 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…For all sampling sites in both river catchments, the IHA metrics (Figure b) were calculated based on the extrapolated gauge data from the 12‐month period prior to the date of the biological sampling (Figure a). This period is expected to represent the effects of flow conditions on macroinvertebrates for a sample (Jourdan et al., ; Leigh & Datry, ). For example, for a macroinvertebrate sample from 21.04.2013, flow data between 22.04.2012 and 21.04.2013 were considered.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected effects of Climate‐change‐induced flow alterations on stream macroinvertebrate abundances

Kakouei

Kiesel

Domisch

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Global change has the potential to affect river flow conditions which are fundamental determinants of physical habitats. Predictions of the effects of flow alterations on aquatic biota have mostly been assessed based on species ecological traits (e.g., current preferences), which are difficult to link to quantitative discharge data. Alternatively, we used empirically derived predictive relationships for species’ response to flow to assess the effect of flow alterations due to climate change in two contrasting central European river catchments. Predictive relationships were set up for 294 individual species based on (1) abundance data from 223 sampling sites in the Kinzig lower‐mountainous catchment and 67 sites in the Treene lowland catchment, and (2) flow conditions at these sites described by five flow metrics quantifying the duration, frequency, magnitude, timing and rate of flow events using present‐day gauging data. Species’ abundances were predicted for three periods: (1) baseline (1998–2017), (2) horizon 2050 (2046–2065) and (3) horizon 2090 (2080–2099) based on these empirical relationships and using high‐resolution modeled discharge data for the present and future climate conditions. We compared the differences in predicted abundances among periods for individual species at each site, where the percent change served as a proxy to assess the potential species responses to flow alterations. Climate change was predicted to most strongly affect the low‐flow conditions, leading to decreased abundances of species up to −42%. Finally combining the response of all species over all metrics indicated increasing overall species assemblage responses in 98% of the studied river reaches in both projected horizons and were significantly larger in the lower‐mountainous Kinzig compared to the lowland Treene catchment. Such quantitative analyses of freshwater taxa responses to flow alterations provide valuable tools for predicting potential climate‐change impacts on species abundances and can be applied to any stressor, species, or region.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected effects of Climate‐change‐induced flow alterations on stream macroinvertebrate abundances

Kakouei

Kiesel

Domisch

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Moreover, if individuals disperse between high and low elevation locations rather than being restricted to particular elevations, which is consistent with the results of this study, then changes to fecundities will be spread over potentially large geographical areas and difficult to detect. Australia is a particularly flat continent compared to others, and hence temperature effects on fecundity that will be mixed across different temperature regimes may be more relevant in Australia than elsewhere (although see Jourdan et al., ). Nevertheless, these results and others that focus on populations (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in fecundity over catchment scales: Implications for caddisfly populations spanning a thermal gradient

2019

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Population sizes of stream insects depend on the number of eggs that enter the benthos. Densities of oviposited eggs have been linked to densities of oviposition habitat, but variability in fecundity has not been explored. Fecundity may differ between sites where females experience different thermal environments during development, because insects generally grow larger and produce more eggs in cold places (e.g. high elevation and latitude). We predicted that because the fecundity of emerging females should increase with elevation then the numbers of eggs in oviposited egg masses (clutch sizes) should also increase with elevation. Alternatively, individuals may routinely disperse along channels or between rivers, mixing individuals that have grown and developed in different thermal environments, in which case clutch sizes may not vary with elevation but could vary greatly within sites. We tested these hypotheses across an elevation gradient of 250–1,080 m above sea level, in seven streams in southeast Australia. We surveyed the fecundity of three species of caddisflies (Trichoptera: Hydrobiosidae) in 2009 (eight sites) and 2010 (17 sites). Female hydrobiosids attach their entire clutch of eggs to an emergent stream boulder, in a single egg mass. At each site we censused the number of egg masses in two random 50 m stretches and photographed a sample of egg masses. Clutch sizes were quantified by counting eggs from the photographs. From numbers of egg masses and mean clutch size per site, we estimated the number of individual eggs per site, to determine whether spatial differences in clutch size affect patterns of egg supply. Potential trade‐offs between egg number and size were also examined. Strong thermal gradients were observed in both years. Sites at lowest elevations were 4.8°C (2009) and 3.6°C (2010) warmer than sites at highest elevations, and accumulated 392 (2009) and 361 (2010) more degree‐days (>0°C) over a period of 88 days. Clutch sizes of each species varied markedly within and between species but did not differ along the thermal gradient. Within species, 83.7–93.7% of variation in clutch size was expressed within sites. Relatively little variation occurred between sites or rivers. Within species, counts of egg masses adequately described relative egg supply to each site, because clutch sizes were similar between sites and rivers. Comparing egg supply between species, however, required including clutch sizes to estimate supply. Egg size differed within but not between species. Significant but small variations in egg size were trivial compared to much larger variations in clutch size. Our results suggest that any spatial differences in fecundity caused by temperature may be erased by dispersal, such that females from multiple locations mix between sites prior to oviposition. A warming global climate may reduce the fecundity of ectotherms such as aquatic insects but consequences for populations are difficult to predict. Moreover, climate‐related effects on fecundity may not be apparent when d...

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“…For example, long‐term (10–32 years) assessment of riverine macroinvertebrates in four European ecoregions to climate change did not report any changes in total taxonomic richness or overall abundance over time or with increasing temperatures, which reflects a compensatory turnover in the composition of communities. However, taxon‐specific changes were evident with less heat tolerant species decreasing in warm years and invasive species increasing in tandem with growing frequency of extreme heat days (Jourdan et al, ).…”

Section: River Biota Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a destabilising feedback, community instability increases as species turnover accelerates, inducing a move to a new community composition (Figure 3, NC1-3). Hypothetically, continuation of this process will contribute to an ever shrinking pool However, taxon-specific changes were evident with less heat tolerant species decreasing in warm years and invasive species increasing in tandem with growing frequency of extreme heat days (Jourdan et al, 2018).…”

Section: River Biota Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and European rivers: An eco‐hydromorphological perspective

O’Briain

2019

Ecohydrology

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Climate change is expected to modify temperature and precipitation patterns throughout Europe, leading to warmer drier summers; wetter, milder winters; and an extended growing season. Alterations to feedbacks between important eco‐physical structuring processes driven by climate change may modulate river morphology, floodplain characteristics, and their biological communities. Current understanding is reviewed and synthesised to explore the potential responses, mechanisms, and ramifications of climatic shifts for the European riverscape. Fundamental drivers of change are expected to be (a) disturbance deviation beyond the historical norm and (b) vegetation morphodynamics, a key river process where ecological and fluvial‐geomorphological attributes interact to shape the physical environment. Increased seasonal temperature, summer drought, and winter flooding may affect the colonisation, growth, and mortality of plant species with consequences for riverscape structure and function as succession patterns adjust with repercussions for hydraulics and sediment dynamics. Such opposing winter and summer climate regimes are likely to impact vegetation patch dynamics, reflected in an increasingly variable patch mosaic as disturbance intensity deviates further from historical background conditions. How changes to climate drivers manifest themselves in individual river systems will also be affected by attributes such as catchment topography, geology, vegetation type, and previous human alterations. Where large scale change occurs, it will have consequences for the type and function of biological communities inhabiting the riverscape. Conventional engineering responses to meteorological disturbance will amplify the effect on river biota by reducing their ecological resilience, highlighting the need for a management response that integrates ecological and societal benefits simultaneously.

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Effects of changing climate on European stream invertebrate communities: A long-term data analysis

Cited by 96 publications

References 79 publications

Projected effects of Climate‐change‐induced flow alterations on stream macroinvertebrate abundances

Projected effects of Climate‐change‐induced flow alterations on stream macroinvertebrate abundances

Variations in fecundity over catchment scales: Implications for caddisfly populations spanning a thermal gradient

Climate change and European rivers: An eco‐hydromorphological perspective

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