Macroinvertebrate functional feeding group methods in ecological assessment

2000 ◽  
pp. 225-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Rawer-Jost ◽  
J. Böhmer ◽  
J. Blank ◽  
H. Rahmann
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Assessment ◽  
Functional Feeding Group ◽  
Feeding Group ◽  
Group Methods

Decreasing Richness And Biomass During A Flood Pulse Observed In A Southeastern US Coastal Floodplain Following A Multi-Year, Supra-Seasonal Drought

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica L. Johnson ◽  
Erin F. Abernethy ◽  
J. Checo Colón-Gaud
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Flood Pulse ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Biological Productivity ◽  
Aquatic Communities ◽  
Functional Feeding Group ◽  
Seasonal Flooding ◽  
Southeastern Us ◽  
Feeding Group

Abstract Floodplains of the southeastern United States exhibit high biological productivity, maintained by periodic floodplain inundation as a result of seasonal flooding. To examine the relationship between biological productivity and seasonal flooding following periods of drought, we quantified aquatic macroinvertebrate communities monthly in an inundated floodplain during the annual flood pulse (December-April) in two years, one following a multi-year drought and one following a larger than average flooding event. We predicted that floodplain communities would differ in richness, biomass, and community composition between years and that differences would be driven by discharge at the main stem and organic matter availability. We collected macroinvertebrates from the floodplain of the Altamaha River, an unimpounded 6th order river in the Coastal Plain region of the southeastern US that experiences floodplain connectivity. With invertebrates identified to genus, we elucidated richness, abundance, biomass, community composition, and functional feeding group. Richness was generally higher in the drought year but decreased throughout the flood pulse, while during the flood year richness was lower and increased. Biomass decreased throughout the flood pulse following the drought year and increased during the flood year. There was a high degree of overlap in invertebrate community composition based on abundance data during both years of the study with collector gatherers being the most highly abundant functional feeding group. As climate change impacts (i.e., severe droughts) become more common, it is critical to investigate how aquatic communities are responding to increasingly unpredictable flow conditions in unimpounded and seemingly unaltered rivers.

scholarly journals Promoting a functional macroinvertebrate approach in the biomonitoring of Italian lotic systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Merritt ◽  
Stefano Fenoglio ◽  
Kenneth W. Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Level Of Detail ◽  
Functional Feeding Groups ◽  
Running Waters ◽  
Ecological Evaluation ◽  
Lotic Systems ◽  
Functional Feeding Group ◽  
Feeding Group ◽  
Great Availability ◽  
Made In

Over fifty years of research on freshwater macroinvertebrates has been driven largely by the state of the taxonomy of these organisms. Significant advances have been and continue to be made in developing ever more refined keys to macroinvertebrate groups. When advances in macroinvertebrate ecological research are restricted by the level of detail in identifications, then analysis by function is a viable alternative. The focus on function, namely adaptations of macroinvertebrates to habitats and the utilization of food resources, has facilitated ecological evaluation of freshwater ecosystems. This classification is based not on what insects eat, but how they obtain their food. These categories are called 'functional feeding groups', as the name implies, denoting their functional role when describing how and where they feed. This is the basis for the functional feeding group (FFG) method that was initially developed in the early 1960s. Taxonomy is applied only to the level of detail that allows assignment to one of five functional feeding group categories: detrital shredders, scrapers, filtering collectors, gatherers, and predators. The aim of this short communication, originating from the presentation of R.W. Merritt at the Biomonitoring Symposium in Rome, 2015, is to promote the use of a functional approach in biomonitoring, especially in Italian and European lotic systems. Here, we present two case studies and we discuss the advantages of the method, especially considering the great availability of quantitative data on macroinvertebrates after the implementation of the WFD 2000/60. We are confident that the increase of functional assessment of ecosystem attributes could have important and direct repercussions in the understanding and management of running waters.

scholarly journals The Trophic Basis of Fish Assemblages in Temperate Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda K. Goddard ◽  
Alistair Becker ◽  
David Harasti ◽  
James A. Smith ◽  
Iain M. Suthers
Keyword(s):  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
The Other ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Seagrass Habitat ◽  
Fish Biomass ◽  
Underwater Video ◽  
Coastal Fish ◽  
Functional Feeding Group ◽  
Feeding Group

Abstract More than half of the fish biomass of coastal rocky reefs depends on zooplankton; however, the trophic basis of estuarine fish assemblages remains unknown. We quantified the trophic basis (i.e. basal energy sources) of fish community biomass inhabiting three habitat types (seagrass, natural reef and artificial reef) in two estuaries, and at two coastal rocky reef sites. Estuarine fish assemblages were surveyed with Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs). Species abundance, richness and biomass of fish were classified into 9 functional feeding groups (3 elasmobranch and 6 teleost). Comparable metrics for coastal fish assemblages were obtained from published surveys using BRUV, remote underwater video and visual census survey methods. Using the functional feeding group biomass and the group-specific diet composition, the breakdown of energy sources was calculated using a food web analysis. Estuarine reef habitats had different species and different functional feeding group composition than seagrass habitat. The majority of fish biomass in the seagrass habitat was supported by detritus (51% at one estuary) or macrophytes (58% at the other estuary). In contrast, zooplankton supported most fish biomass (45-59%) at the coastal reef locations, and in reef habitat in one estuary (35-43%), but not the other estuary (33-34%). The trophic basis of estuarine and coastal fish assemblages reveals their potential response to urbanisation including changes to habitat, nutrient supply and current flow.

Spatial and seasonal variability in the trophic role of aquatic insects: An assessment of functional feeding group applicability

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 954-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Manuel Tierno de Figueroa ◽  
Manuel Jesús López‐Rodríguez ◽  
Manuel Villar‐Argaiz
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Aquatic Insects ◽  
Functional Feeding Group ◽  
Feeding Group ◽  
Trophic Role
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