Potential effects of water-level fluctuations on littoral invertebrates in lowland lakes

Brauns, Mario; Garcia, Xavier‐François

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9192-6_2

Cited by 20 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Cheruvelil et al (2000) showed that areas of 0.41-0.63 m 2 are sufficient to representatively sample littoral macroinvertebrates associated with submerged macrophytes. These results may not be directly applicable to the other habitats found in the littoral zone as macroinvertebrate community composition and species richness differs amongst habitats (Brauns et al, 2008;Tolonen & Hämäläinen, 2010). Moreover, macroinvertebrate species richness is dependent on the spatial complexity of the habitat (Brauns et al, 2007b) such that spatially complex habitats within the littoral may have to be sampled with a higher intensity than spatially uniform profundal habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 60%

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How much is enough? Adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates in lowland lakes

Schreiber

Brauns

2010

Hydrobiologia

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Littoral macroinvertebrates are increasingly used for assessing the ecological status of lakes according to the EU Water Framework Directive. This requires harmonised sampling methods, but information on the appropriate spatial scale of the sampling as well as on the adequate sample sizes are mostly lacking. In this study, we compared the spatial variability of littoral (\1.2 m water depth) macroinvertebrate community composition within habitats and within sites to test whether habitat-specific sampling can reduce their spatial variability. Furthermore, we determined the sample size necessary to obtain maximum species richness for a given habitat type. Spatial variability of macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly lower within habitats than within sampling sites, except for communities of coarse woody debris. Species-area curves revealed that a sample size of 1 m 2 per habitat was not sufficient to obtain the maximum species richness due to the dominance of rare species, which suggests that compilation of taxon inventories may require more exhaustive sampling with sampling sizes substantially larger than 1 m 2 . Separate analysis for species assigned to incidence classes showed that a mean area of 0.63 m 2 per habitat is sufficient to record all species with frequent and medium incidences, and 76% of the rare species. We conclude that habitat-specific sampling is an effective way to reduce the inherent spatial variability of littoral macroinvertebrate communities and that a sample size of 0.63 m 2 per habitat is sufficient to represent their dominant and subdominant elements. The application of this adequate sample size to other lake types than large oligotrophic lakes has to be exercised with caution, in particular if community composition and richness patterns differ. However, our results are based on data from lakes that represent the typical lake type found throughout the Central Baltic ecoregion ensuring its wider applicability in this ecoregion.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Our previous studies have shown that compositional dissimilarities of the littoral macroinvertebrate community between spring and autumn are negligible suggesting that the spring samples taken in this study provide a representative picture of the macroinvertebrate community of the studied lakes (Brauns et al, 2007a;Brauns et al, 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 94%

How much is enough? Adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates in lowland lakes

Schreiber

Brauns

2010

Hydrobiologia

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“…Macroinvertebrates may therefore prove to be a useful group to use to assess habitat loss associated with shoreline development. Similarly, artificial water level fluctuations can lead to habitat alteration in the littoral resulting in significant changes in the macroinvertebrate community (Brauns et al, 2008;Mastrantuono et al, 2008). However, few studies to date have addressed the need to develop a greater understanding of the role of shoreline hydromorphological modification on lake biota (Ostendorp, 2004;Rowan et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Modelling lake macroinvertebrate species in the shallow sublittoral: relative roles of habitat, lake morphology, aquatic chemistry and sediment composition

et al. 2009

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Macroinvertebrates are one of the key components of lake ecosystems and are required to be monitored alongside other biological groups to define ecological status according to European Union legislation. Macroinvertebrate communities are highly variable and complex and respond to a diverse series of environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the relative importance of environmental variables in explaining macroinvertebrate abundance. A total of 45 sub-alpine lakes were sampled for macroinvertebrates in the shallow sublittoral. Environmental variables were grouped into four types: (1) aquatic physical and chemical parameters, (2) littoral and riparian habitat, (3) lake morphometric parameters and (4) sediment chemical characteristics. Nonparametric multiplicative regression (NPMR) was used to model the abundance of individual macroinvertebrate taxa. Significant models were produced for nine out of the 24 taxa examined. Sediment characteristics were the group most frequently included in models and also the factors to which taxa abundance was the most sensitive. Aquatic physical and chemical variables were the next group most frequently included in models although chlorophyll a was not included in any of the models and total phosphorus in only one. This indicates that many taxa may not show a direct easily interpretable response to eutrophication pressure. Lake morphometric factors were included in several of the models although the sensitivity of macroinvertebrate abundance tended to be lower than for sediment and aquatic physical and chemical factors. Habitat factors were only included in three models although riparian vegetation was found to have a significant influence on the abundance of Ephemera danica indicating that ecotone integrity is likely to play a role in its ecology. Overall, the models tended to be specific for species with limited commonality across taxa. Models produced by NPMR indicate that the response of macroinvertebrates to environmental variables can be successfully described but further research is required focussing in more detail on the response of key taxa to relevant environmental parameters and anthropogenic pressures

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“…) and is, therefore, particularly sensitive to anthropogenic shoreline development and altered hydrological conditions (Brauns et al . ; Brauns, Garcia & Pusch ). Importantly, benthic invertebrate consumers form key links not only in whole lake food webs (Vander Zanden & Vadeboncoeur ) but also in adjacent terrestrial ones (Wesner ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying ecological responses to amplified water level fluctuations in standing waters: an experimental approach

Evtimova

Donohue

2014

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary1. Global freshwater demand is increasing dramatically, with water withdrawal rates more than tripling in the last five decades. Consequently, alteration of water level regimes, particularly in the form of amplified water level fluctuations (WLF), is rapidly becoming one of the major disturbances of aquatic ecosystems globally. However, even though the impacts of WLF are likely to be strongest in littoral zones, little is known about their effects on the structure and functioning of littoral assemblages in standing water systems. 2. We established an experiment in large outdoor pond mesocosms to examine the effects of WLF on littoral assemblages and explore the potential for development of ecological indicators of WLF. 3. Water level fluctuations reduced benthic algal biomass and the density and taxonomic distinctness of benthic invertebrate assemblages. Both the taxonomic and trophic structure of benthic assemblages were altered significantly in ponds with WLF and homogenized along the depth gradient. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate that water level fluctuations (WLF) can reduce considerably the productivity and biological diversity of lake littoral zones. Given that the problem is likely to be exacerbated by predicted increases in climatic variability and enhanced demand for water and hydropower, our findings have important implications for the conservation and management of global aquatic biodiversity. We identified several specific ways that WLF modify littoral assemblages along the depth gradient. This ability to identify separate pressures is an important requirement of robust ecological assessment tools. This study confers potential for development of ecological indicators of WLF in standing waters, provides indication of sampling strategies to be employed and demonstrates the need to mitigate the most extreme water withdrawals.

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Potential effects of water-level fluctuations on littoral invertebrates in lowland lakes

Cited by 20 publications

References 12 publications

How much is enough? Adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates in lowland lakes

How much is enough? Adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates in lowland lakes

Modelling lake macroinvertebrate species in the shallow sublittoral: relative roles of habitat, lake morphology, aquatic chemistry and sediment composition

Quantifying ecological responses to amplified water level fluctuations in standing waters: an experimental approach

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