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A comparison of the taxonomic and trait structure of macroinvertebrate communities between the riffles and pools of montane headwater streams

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Abstract

Macroinvertebrate community taxonomic and trait structure showed consistent differences between riffles and pools across 12 headwater streams in the Sierra Nevada (California) even as flows varied from wet to dry years and between seasons. Densities of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Elmidae, Orthocladiinae and Diamesinae midges, and mites were greater in riffles, whereas Tanypodinae, Chironominae, Sialis, and Pisidium were more abundant in pools. Pools had higher densities but estimated biomass was greater in riffles. Collector-gatherer and micropredator abundances were greater in pools whereas grazers, collector-filterers, and macropredators were more abundant in riffles. Stonefly shredders were most abundant in riffles but some caddis shredders were more abundant in pools. Trait state patterns were related to food resource and physical habitat differences between riffles and pools. Of the distinct pool–riffle differences we found among taxa, only about half conformed to expectations from the literature. Pool and riffle assemblages were most dissimilar at intermediate discharge and converged at low and high flows when one or the other habitat dominated. Bioassessment sampling will need to account for these flow-related differences. Benthic invertebrate communities in these mountain streams clearly differ between pools and riffles, but the relative extent of habitats and biological similarity shift with flow regime.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded through Joint Venture Agreements between the Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, and the University of California, Santa Barbara (12-JV-11272139-070). We also received support in the early years from California’s State Water Resources Control Board, through Proposition 50 (the Water Security Clean Drinking Water, Coastal, and Beach Protection Act of 2002). We thank Ian Bell, Mike Bogan, Bruce Hammock, Jeff Kane, Sandi Roll, and Matt Wilson for laboratory and field assistance during this study. Helpful reviews from Sherri Johnson and Daren Carlisle improved this paper. We also thank the many Forest Service employees over the years who collected streamflow and stream habitat data for this project.

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Correspondence to David B. Herbst.

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10750_2018_3646_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx

Supplementary material 1 (XLSX 56 kb). Appendix 1. List of collected taxa and their tolerance values (TV, scaled 0 = most sensitive to 10 = most tolerant to stress), thermal preference distributions (TempCD75 is the 75th percentile of the cumulative distribution of temperature (°C) observations for field collections of the taxon specified, Yuan, 2006), and assignment to functional feeding groups (FFG) and trait groups associated with voltinism (Volt), development (Devel), body size, temperature preferences (Temp), behavioral characteristics (Habit), and flow affinity (Rheo), based on Barbour et al. (1999), Vieira et al. (2006), Poff et al. (2006), and Merritt et al. (2008). The right side of this Appendix, after the Rheo column, shows pool (P, depositional), riffle (R, erosional), and mixed habitat (M) designations in Poff et al. (2006) and Merritt et al. (2008), as well as the results of Indicator Species Analysis on taxa relative abundances showing significant associations (P < 0.05, Monte Carlo tests) of common taxa (occurring in > 25% of samples) with pools (P) versus riffles (R) (all sites-times) and statistical results (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001) of mean time-averaged density differences between pools and riffles (n = 12 for each pool v riffle comparison) using paired t-tests with Benjamini–Hochberg corrections for all comparisons. The next column indicates the number of sites (out of 12) where each taxon was collected. Statistical tests were only performed where n> 5. The last four columns show the mean densities and associated standard errors for individual taxa in pools versus riffles. Abbreviations and codes: For FFGs: p predator, mp micro-predator, cg collector-gatherer, cf collector filterer, g grazer, sh shredder, ph piercer-herbivore. For Traits: Volt (voltinism, 1 = semivoltine < 1 generation/year, 2 = univoltine 1 generation/year, 3 = multivoltine > 1 generation/year); Devel (development rate, 1 = fast, 2 = slow, 3 = nonseasonal); Size (1 = small 2–9 mm, 2 = medium 9–16 mm, 3 = large 16–30 mm); Temp (temperature preference, 1 = cold stenotherm, 2 = cool eurytherm, 3 = warm eurytherm); Habit (behavioral habit, 1 = burrower, 2 = climber, 3 = sprawler, 4 = clinger, 5 = swimmer), and Rheo (rheophily flow/habitat preference, 1 = depositional, 2 = mixed, 3 = erosional). Note that there were insufficient data to code traits of some rare taxa in this data set (blanks), and that Chironomidae are grouped by subfamily or tribe

10750_2018_3646_MOESM2_ESM.xlsx

Supplementary material 2 (XLSX 13 kb). Appendix 2. Predictions and statistical results of comparisons between pools (P) and riffles (R) for the relative and absolute abundances of trait states, and for community indices of stress (biotic index) and temperature (thermal index) tolerance. Hypotheses regarding the pool (P) and riffle (R) affinities of different trait state groups were based on the references listed in the Appendix 1 legend and through considerations of trait state relationships to environmental factors that varied between pools (P) and riffles (R) (Table 2, see text). The results of paired t-tests for time averaged mean values across sites (n = 12 P v R pairs for each comparison) with Benjamini–Hochberg corrections (false detection rate = 0.05) for multiple comparisons across all traits are shown. Significant pool-riffle transformed (logit for proportions, log for densities) abundance differences were designated with asterisks: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) and associated P values are shown, to the right of the trait state pool versus riffle results, for hypothesized relationships between transformed abundances of trait states and transformed environmental variables. This part of the appendix lists specific hypotheses and hypothesized correlations between the abundances of organisms belonging to different traits and environmental factors (Pearson’s correlation coefficient r, P value of test, and sample size n) using the full data set

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Herbst, D.B., Cooper, S.D., Medhurst, R.B. et al. A comparison of the taxonomic and trait structure of macroinvertebrate communities between the riffles and pools of montane headwater streams. Hydrobiologia 820, 115–133 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3646-4

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