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Variability of water temperature may influence food-chain length in temperate streams

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Abstract

Food-chain length (FCL) is commonly used in ecological investigations to gain insight into how ecosystems function. Several studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying FCL patterns, but none has specifically examined the effect of temperature variability. In river ecosystems, water temperature variability can modify community structure, individuals’ activity, and individuals’ physiological rates, among other things. As such, we expected that it would negatively influence FCL. To test this prediction, we took advantage of a dataset comprising five streams, which mainly differ according to their temperature variability. At each stream, we (i) studied the species composition of macroinvertebrates and fish, and using nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes, (ii) estimated realized FCL, and (iii) examined food web structure. For macroinvertebrates, but not for fish, species composition differed among sites displaying low and high temperature variability. FCL was negatively influenced by temperature variability. Confirming this trend, we found a highly significant linear relationship between FCL and temperature variability using data from the literature. As for food web structure, the trophic position of filter-feeders/shredders may explain the FCL differences among sites. Our study gives additional support to the “dynamic stability” hypothesis and advances a step further by suggesting that temperature variability alone may reduce FCL.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Virginie Raymond for assistance in the field and sample preparation. Stable isotope analyses were carried out with EA-IRMS at Cemagref/Irstea Antony, Research Unit HBAN with the patient support of Jonathan Epissard. Bernard Hugueny and Olivier Delaigue gave helpful recommendations for statistical analyses. We also thank Michel Sanchez for kindly allowing us to work on his properties and for his welcome. We express our gratitude to Julien Peschard, who created the site map. We thank Deborah Slawson for copyediting the initial manuscript. This work was funded by the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (MEDDAD) under a “Global Change and demographic strategies of fish populations” contract (APR Biodiversity and Climate Change 2005), 2007–2009.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Irstea, UR HBAN, 1 rue Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, CS 10030, 92761, Antony, France

    Nicolas Hette-Tronquart, Virginie Archaimbault, Didier Pont & Jérôme Belliard

  2. INRA, UMR 985 “Ecologie et Santé des Ecosystèmes”, 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc, 35042, Rennes, France

    Jean-Marc Roussel

  3. Irstea, UR HYAX, 3275 Route de Cézanne, CS 40061, 13182, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Bernard Dumont

  4. UMR CNRS 7208-IRD 207-MNHN-UPMC “Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystemes Aquatiques”, DMPA, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 43 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

    Thierry Oberdorff

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  1. Nicolas Hette-Tronquart
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Correspondence to Nicolas Hette-Tronquart.

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Hette-Tronquart, N., Roussel, JM., Dumont, B. et al. Variability of water temperature may influence food-chain length in temperate streams. Hydrobiologia 718, 159–172 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1613-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1613-7

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