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Temporal patterns and environmental correlates of macroinvertebrate communities in temporary streams
Citation
Botwe, PK and Barmuta, LA and Magierowski, R and McEvoy, P and Goonan, P and Carver, S, Temporal patterns and environmental correlates of macroinvertebrate communities in temporary streams, PLoS ONE, 10, (11) Article e0142370. ISSN 1932-6203 (2015) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright: © 2015 Botwe et al. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142370
Abstract
Temporary streams are characterised by short periods of seasonal or annual stream flow
after which streams contract into waterholes or pools of varying hydrological connectivity
and permanence. Although these streams are widespread globally, temporal variability of
their ecology is understudied, and understanding the processes that structure community
composition in these systems is vital for predicting and managing the consequences of
anthropogenic impacts. We used multivariate and univariate approaches to investigate temporal
variability in macroinvertebrate compositional data from 13 years of sampling across
multiple sites from autumn and spring, in South Australia, the driest state in the driest inhabited
continent in the world. We examined the potential of land-use, geographic and environmental
variables to predict the temporal variability in macroinvertebrate assemblages, and
also identified indicator taxa, that is, those highly correlated with the most significantly associated
physical variables. Temporal trajectories of macroinvertebrate communities varied
within site in both seasons and across years. A combination of land-use, geographic and
environmental variables accounted for 24% of the variation in community structure in
autumn and 27% in spring. In autumn, community composition among sites were more
closely clustered together relative to spring suggesting that communities were more similar
in autumn than in spring. In both seasons, community structure was most strongly correlated
with conductivity and latitude, and community structure was more associated with
cover by agriculture than urban land-use. Maintaining temporary streams will require
improved catchment management aimed at sustaining seasonal flows and critical refuge
habitats, while also limiting the damaging effects from increased agriculture and urban
developments.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | community ecology, aquatic invertebrate |
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Fresh, ground and surface water systems and management |
Objective Field: | Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems |
UTAS Author: | Botwe, PK (Mr Paul Botwe) |
UTAS Author: | Barmuta, LA (Associate Professor Leon Barmuta) |
UTAS Author: | Magierowski, R (Dr Regina Magierowski) |
UTAS Author: | Carver, S (Dr Scott Carver) |
ID Code: | 105644 |
Year Published: | 2015 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 8 |
Deposited By: | Zoology |
Deposited On: | 2016-01-12 |
Last Modified: | 2018-01-31 |
Downloads: | 283 View Download Statistics |
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