Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams

Tropical Andean glaciers are retreating rapidly, with possible consequences for trophic structure and ecosystem processes in high Andean meltwater streams. Here, we measured the environmental characteristics, quantified pools of particulate organic matter (POM) and periphyton (Chl. a), sampled benth...

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Autores principales:	Patricio Andino, Rodrigo Espinosa, Verónica Crespo-Pérez, Sophie Cauvy-Frauníe, Olivier Dangles, Dean Jacobsen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	Andes tropical alpine streams glacier influence glacial retreat benthic fauna macroinvertebrates Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1b5ab85287ea4e9b82c0f22ced09ee2d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1b5ab85287ea4e9b82c0f22ced09ee2d2021-11-25T19:16:39ZFunctional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams10.3390/w132233032073-4441https://doaj.org/article/1b5ab85287ea4e9b82c0f22ced09ee2d2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/22/3303https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4441Tropical Andean glaciers are retreating rapidly, with possible consequences for trophic structure and ecosystem processes in high Andean meltwater streams. Here, we measured the environmental characteristics, quantified pools of particulate organic matter (POM) and periphyton (Chl. a), sampled benthic macroinvertebrates, determined functional feeding groups (FFG), and performed mesh bag decomposition experiments with Calamagrostis grass detritus at 17 stream sites along a gradient of glacial influence (GI) with 0–23% glacier cover in the catchment at 4050–4200 m a.s.l. in the Andes of Ecuador. POM was unrelated to GI while Chl. a. showed a weak (non-significant) negative relationship to GI. The macrofauna abundance decreased while taxon richness and the number of FFGs per site showed a hump-shaped relationship with increasing GI. Taxa with an opportunistic and generalist feeding mode generally dominated benthic assemblages and were related to high GI levels and low Chl. a. Only shredders were negatively related to GI, but unrelated to POM. Decomposition rates were comparable to those found in temperate alpine streams, and for both fine (0.0010–0.0065; median 0.0028 d<sup>−1</sup>) and coarse (0.0019–0.0088; median 0.0048 d<sup>−1</sup>) mesh bags, peaked at intermediate GI values, while the difference between bag types was small and almost constant along the GI gradient. This indicates an overall minor effect of macroinvertebrate shredders compared to that of microbes, in particular at high GI. It also suggests that the relatively high average temperature of these high-altitude equatorial streams (7–10 °C) does not produce higher decomposition rates than those in comparable but colder streams at temperate latitudes. The results suggest that, at the lower end of glacier cover, tropical glacier loss will not change the dominant microbial role in detritus decomposition, but that part of the physical abrasion could be partially replaced by biological shredding.Patricio AndinoRodrigo EspinosaVerónica Crespo-PérezSophie Cauvy-FrauníeOlivier DanglesDean JacobsenMDPI AGarticleAndestropical alpine streamsglacier influenceglacial retreatbenthic faunamacroinvertebratesHydraulic engineeringTC1-978Water supply for domestic and industrial purposesTD201-500ENWater, Vol 13, Iss 3303, p 3303 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Andes tropical alpine streams glacier influence glacial retreat benthic fauna macroinvertebrates Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500
spellingShingle	Andes tropical alpine streams glacier influence glacial retreat benthic fauna macroinvertebrates Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500 Patricio Andino Rodrigo Espinosa Verónica Crespo-Pérez Sophie Cauvy-Frauníe Olivier Dangles Dean Jacobsen Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams
description	Tropical Andean glaciers are retreating rapidly, with possible consequences for trophic structure and ecosystem processes in high Andean meltwater streams. Here, we measured the environmental characteristics, quantified pools of particulate organic matter (POM) and periphyton (Chl. a), sampled benthic macroinvertebrates, determined functional feeding groups (FFG), and performed mesh bag decomposition experiments with Calamagrostis grass detritus at 17 stream sites along a gradient of glacial influence (GI) with 0–23% glacier cover in the catchment at 4050–4200 m a.s.l. in the Andes of Ecuador. POM was unrelated to GI while Chl. a. showed a weak (non-significant) negative relationship to GI. The macrofauna abundance decreased while taxon richness and the number of FFGs per site showed a hump-shaped relationship with increasing GI. Taxa with an opportunistic and generalist feeding mode generally dominated benthic assemblages and were related to high GI levels and low Chl. a. Only shredders were negatively related to GI, but unrelated to POM. Decomposition rates were comparable to those found in temperate alpine streams, and for both fine (0.0010–0.0065; median 0.0028 d<sup>−1</sup>) and coarse (0.0019–0.0088; median 0.0048 d<sup>−1</sup>) mesh bags, peaked at intermediate GI values, while the difference between bag types was small and almost constant along the GI gradient. This indicates an overall minor effect of macroinvertebrate shredders compared to that of microbes, in particular at high GI. It also suggests that the relatively high average temperature of these high-altitude equatorial streams (7–10 °C) does not produce higher decomposition rates than those in comparable but colder streams at temperate latitudes. The results suggest that, at the lower end of glacier cover, tropical glacier loss will not change the dominant microbial role in detritus decomposition, but that part of the physical abrasion could be partially replaced by biological shredding.
format	article
author	Patricio Andino Rodrigo Espinosa Verónica Crespo-Pérez Sophie Cauvy-Frauníe Olivier Dangles Dean Jacobsen
author_facet	Patricio Andino Rodrigo Espinosa Verónica Crespo-Pérez Sophie Cauvy-Frauníe Olivier Dangles Dean Jacobsen
author_sort	Patricio Andino
title	Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams
title_short	Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams
title_full	Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams
title_fullStr	Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams
title_full_unstemmed	Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams
title_sort	functional feeding groups of macrofauna and detritus decomposition along a gradient of glacial meltwater influence in tropical high-andean streams
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/1b5ab85287ea4e9b82c0f22ced09ee2d
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Functional Feeding Groups of Macrofauna and Detritus Decomposition along a Gradient of Glacial Meltwater Influence in Tropical High-Andean Streams

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