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Effect of spatial scale on macroinvertebrate assemblages along a Mediterranean river

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Abstract

Although the assembly of stream macroinvertebrates is regulated by environmental heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales, field bioassessment studies that explicitly considered such scale-dependency are rare. Here, we investigated how large scale longitudinal gradients and local microhabitat structure jointly regulate the assembly of macroinvertebrate communities along a Mediterranean river. We compared community composition, metrics and functional feeding traits among three microhabitat categories (grain-size >20 cm; grain-size <20 cm; organic substrata) along three river sectors (up-, middle-, downstream), which reflected a gradient of anthropogenic modification. Macroinvertebrate assemblages varied mostly over the large-scale longitudinal gradient, but the influence of local micro-habitat features was evident at the within-sector scale. The effects of micro-habitats appeared stronger for feeding traits compared to simple taxonomic metrics, supporting the hypothesis that feeding traits are sensitive to river substratum character. Beta-diversity among micro-habitat types was smaller in the modified downstream sector, which supported more homogeneous communities. An explicit consideration of spatial scales is recommended when interpreting results from environmental assessment studies. In the Aniene River, the influence of local-scale substratum character on macroinvertebrates depended on the longitudinal gradient in anthropogenic pressure. Also, the findings suggest that taxonomic and functional metrics reflect processes operating at different spatial scales.

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Acknowledgments

This study was technically supported by Roma Tre University. A. Manfrin was financially supported by the Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, and Leibniz-Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin. S. Larsen was supported by an individual fellowship from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). We want also to thank T. Mehner and the participants of the workshop “Scientific Writing” at the Leibnitz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries for helpful discussion on an early stage of the manuscript. We are indebted to Giorgio Pace, for his help during the field sampling. Finally, we want to thank two anonymous referees for their precious suggestions that helped to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 301, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Alessandro Manfrin

  2. Department of Science, University of Roma, Tre, viale G. Marconi 446, 00146, Rome, Italy

    Alessandro Manfrin, Lorenzo Traversetti & Massimiliano Scalici

  3. Department of Biology-Chemistry-Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraβe 3, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Alessandro Manfrin

  4. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå Universitet, Tvistevägen 48, Umeå, Sweden

    Francesca Pilotto

  5. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), DeutscherPlatz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Stefano Larsen

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  1. Alessandro Manfrin
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Correspondence to Alessandro Manfrin.

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Manfrin, A., Traversetti, L., Pilotto, F. et al. Effect of spatial scale on macroinvertebrate assemblages along a Mediterranean river. Hydrobiologia 765, 185–196 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2412-0

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