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Three years in the dark: life history and trophic traits of the hyporheic stonefly, Alloperla ishikariana Kohno, 1953 (Plecoptera, Chloroperlidae)

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Abstract

Little is known about the ecology of insect species in the hyporheic zone of rivers, despite its importance in understanding how species survive in specialized habitats. We report on the life history and trophic characteristics of the hyporheic stonefly species Alloperla ishikariana Kohno, 1953 (Order: Plecoptera, Family: Chloroperlidae) in a gravel-bed river in northern Japan, using year-round sampling of both benthic and hyporheic larvae, as well as flying adults in the riparian zone. Adults emerged between May and August, and the larval cohort structure consisted of three sized groups with some sex dimorphism in their body size, with an average growth rate of 0.0043 mg/day. Diet analyses based on C and N stable isotope ratios indicated minimal ontogenetic diet shifts. In contrast, the temporal diet shift was more apparent with higher dependence on Oligochaeta in winter, with an increasing dependence on Chironomidae in spring and early summer. Other insect taxa, namely, Leuctridae and small-sized Lepidostoma, demonstrated a high to moderate affinity for the hyporheic zone. Alloperla ishikariana spent most of its larval stage in the hyporheic zone. With adults living from 7 to 10 days, A. ishikariana completes a life span of approximately 3 years with its larval stage in the dark.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Obihiro Regional Office of the Hokkaido Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) for their field assistance. Isotope analysis was conducted using the Joint Usage/Research Facilities of the Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University. The authors would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Funding

This study was supported in part by the research fund for the Tokachi River provided by the MLIT, the Dam Research Fund of Water Resources Environment Center (WEC), and JSPS KAKENHI granted to JNN (18H03408 and 18H03407).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan

    J. N. Negishi, R. Kawanishi & H. Uno

  2. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan

    M. K. Alam & M. A. T. M. T. Rahman

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    H. Uno

  4. Institute of Environmental Ecology, IDEA Consultants, Inc., 1334-5 Riemon, Yaizu, Shizuoka, 421-0212, Japan

    G. Yoshinari

  5. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Nagano, 390-8621, Japan

    K. Tojo

  6. Kushiro Campus, Hokkaido University of Education, Kushiro, Hokkaido, 085-8580, Japan

    R. Kawanishi

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  1. J. N. Negishi
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Contributions

JNN contributed to conceptualization (lead), data curation (equal), formal analysis (lead), funding acquisition (equal), project administration, supervision, and writing—original draft preparation (lead). MKA and MATMR contributed to conceptualization (equal), data curation (equal), and formal analysis (equal). RK and HU were involved in funding acquisition (equal), data curation (equal), formal analysis (equal), and writing—review and editing (equal). GY was involved in data curation (equal) and writing—review and editing (equal). KT contributed to funding acquisition (equal) and writing—review and editing (equal).

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Correspondence to J. N. Negishi.

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Negishi, J.N., Alam, M.K., Rahman, M.A.T.M.T. et al. Three years in the dark: life history and trophic traits of the hyporheic stonefly, Alloperla ishikariana Kohno, 1953 (Plecoptera, Chloroperlidae). Hydrobiologia 849, 4203–4219 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-04976-9

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