Relationships between land cover, riparian vegetation, stream characteristics, and aquatic insects in cloud forest streams, Mexico

Deforestation for agricultural purposes is the most dangerous human action against the conservation of the Brazilian Amazon Forest; its rates reached almost 20% of the original forested area. Many studies have been conducted on Chironomidae systematics and ecology over the Amazon biome, but most concerned the Central Amazon, while little is known about Chironomidae diversity and the effects of land development and agriculture intensification on the aquatic biota from Eastern Brazilian Amazon. The present study analyzed the effects of different land-use and land-cover on Chironomidae assemblages. Land-Use and Land-Cover (LULC) at the riparian zone were assessed from satellite imagery and three categories were defined: Forest, Secondary (Capoeira) and Agriculture. Ten catchments were selected: two for Forest, five for Agriculture and three for Secondary. For each catchment we characterized habitat and sampled insects. We hypothesized that i) the assemblage taxonomic richness will change across different land uses on riparian zones and ii) feeding functionality is a better information than taxonomic resolution to show the importance of LULC upon stream. A total of 20,884 individuals were sampled from the streams, abundance was higher in Agriculture streams. Corynoneura (18.4%), Pentaneura (14.6%) and Rheotanytarus (14.0%) were the most abundant genera in Agriculture streams; Corynoneura (17.8%), Caladomyia (13.6%), Paratanytarsus (13.1%) and Beardius (10.9%) dominated Forest streams; Goeldichironomus (25.9%), Rheotanytarus (17.6%) and Polypedilum (13.2%) dominated Capoeira streams. Regarding FFG, gatherers were the most numeric abundant in Forest (50.3%), followed by filterers (38.7%), predators (6.6%) and shredders (4.2%). In Capoeira, filterers were the main FFG (61.1%), gatherers (27.9%), predators (7.7%) and shredders (3.3%). In Agriculture streams, predators, filterers and gatherers had close numeric participation, 34.9%, 32.4% and 32.2%, respectively. Shredders performed a smaller fraction (0.4%). In Forest and Agriculture, scrapers participation was under 0.2%, while it was absent at Capoeira. Permutation tests showed significant differences among assemblages, based on numerical abundance of genera and on functional feeding group data. Even though, shredders showed a discrete participation in all three LULC, it was statistically significant higher at Forest streams when compared to Agriculture ones. Our study was able to demonstrate taxonomic differences of all LULC analyzed and it also showed the importance in considering the feeding behavior to understand the effects of land-use and land-covers changes.

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Effects of land use on larval Odonata assemblages in cloud forest streams in central Veracruz, Mexico

Hydrobiologia ◽

10.1007/s10750-016-2900-x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 785 (1) ◽

pp. 19-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

P. L. García-García ◽

G. Vázquez ◽

R. Novelo-Gutiérrez ◽

M. E. Favila

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Cloud Forest ◽

Forest Streams ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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Topography and Land Cover of Watersheds Predicts the Distribution of the Environmental Pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans in Aquatic Insects

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

10.1371/journal.pntd.0003298 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (11) ◽

pp. e3298 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Kevin Carolan ◽

Andres Garchitorena ◽

Gabriel E. García-Peña ◽

Aaron Morris ◽

Jordi Landier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Aquatic Insects ◽

Mycobacterium Ulcerans

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Carbon inputs from riparian vegetation limit oxidation of physically-bound organic carbon via biochemical and thermodynamic processes

10.1101/105486 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Emily B. Graham ◽

Malak Tfaily ◽

Alex R. Crump ◽

Amy E. Goldman ◽

Lisa Bramer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Land Cover ◽

Metabolic Pathways ◽

Riparian Vegetation ◽

Columbia River ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Future Climate ◽

River Corridor ◽

Thermodynamic Processes

In light of increasing terrestrial carbon (C) transport across aquatic boundaries, the mechanisms governing organic carbon (OC) oxidation along terrestrial-aquatic interfaces are crucial to future climate predictions. Here, we investigate the biochemistry, metabolic pathways, and thermodynamics corresponding to OC oxidation in the Columbia River corridor using ultra-high resolution C characterization. We leverage natural vegetative differences to encompass variation in terrestrial C inputs. Our results suggest that decreases in terrestrial C deposition associated with diminished riparian vegetation induce oxidation of physically-bound OC. We also find that contrasting metabolic pathways oxidize OC in the presence and absence of vegetation and -- in direct conflict with the priming concept -- that inputs of water-soluble and thermodynamically favorable terrestrial OC protects bound-OC from oxidation. In both environments, the most thermodynamically favorable compounds appear to be preferentially oxidized regardless of which OC pool microbiomes metabolize. In turn, we suggest that the extent of riparian vegetation causes sediment microbiomes to locally adapt to oxidize a particular pool of OC, but that common thermodynamic principles govern the oxidation of each pool (i.e., water-soluble or physically-bound). Finally, we propose a mechanistic conceptualization of OC oxidation along terrestrial-aquatic interfaces that can be used to model heterogeneous patterns of OC loss under changing land cover distributions.

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Land cover change and carbon stores in a tropical montane cloud forest in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico

Journal of Mountain Science ◽

10.1007/s11629-018-4937-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (10) ◽

pp. 2136-2147 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Edgar G. Leija-Loredo ◽

Numa P. Pavón ◽

Arturo Sánchez-González ◽

Rodrigo Rodriguez-Laguna ◽

Gregorio Ángeles-Pérez

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Land Cover Change ◽

Cloud Forest ◽

Tropical Montane Cloud Forest ◽

Sierra Madre Oriental ◽

Montane Cloud Forest ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Carbon Stores

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Arthropod 'rain' into tropical streams: the importance of intact riparian forest and influences on fish diets

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf07191 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 59 (8) ◽

pp. 653 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Eric K. W. Chan ◽

Yixin Zhang ◽

David Dudgeon

Keyword(s):

Riparian Vegetation ◽

Riparian Forest ◽

Wet Season ◽

Important Prey ◽

Terrestrial Arthropods ◽

Fish Diets ◽

Terrestrial Insects ◽

Forest Streams ◽

The Tropics ◽

Trophic Linkages

Terrestrial arthropods might represent an important energy source for stream predators, but these trophic linkages have seldom been studied in the tropics. Terrestrial arthropod inputs (essentially, arthropod ‘rain’) into four streams with different riparian vegetation (two draining shrublands and two draining forests) were measured over three consecutive seasons (dry, wet, dry) from 2005 to 2007 in monsoonal Hong Kong. Predatory minnows, Parazacco spilurus (Cyprinidae), were collected and their consumption of terrestrial arthropods was estimated. Inputs of arthropods were dominated by Diptera, Collembola, Formicidae and aerial Hymenoptera, accounting for ≥73% of the arthropod abundance. Seasonal variation was marked: numbers in the dry seasons were approximately half (47–57%) those in the wet season, and biomass fell to one-third (33–37%) of the wet-season value. Shrubland streams received 19–43% fewer individuals and 6–34% less biomass than shaded forest streams. An analysis of fish diets in three of the four streams showed that terrestrial insects and spiders were more important prey in the two forest streams, accounting for 35–43% of prey abundance (39–43% by volume) v. 28% (27%) in the shrubland stream. Because riparian vegetation is the source of terrestrial arthropod inputs to streams, degradation of streamside forests that reduce these inputs will have consequences for the diets of stream fishes.

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The fire pulse: wildfire stimulates flux of aquatic prey to terrestrial habitats driving increases in riparian consumers

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f10-006 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 67 (3) ◽

pp. 570-579 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Rachel L. Malison ◽

Colden V. Baxter

Keyword(s):

Benthic Invertebrates ◽

Aquatic Insects ◽

Riparian Vegetation ◽

Aquatic Insect ◽

Dry Mass ◽

High Severity ◽

Aquatic Insect Emergence ◽

Terrestrial Habitats ◽

Aquatic Productivity ◽

Adult Aquatic Insects

We investigated the midterm effects of wildfire (in this case, five years after the fire) of varying severity on periphyton, benthic invertebrates, emerging adult aquatic insects, spiders, and bats by comparing unburned sites with those exposed to low severity (riparian vegetation burned but canopy intact) and high severity (canopy completely removed) wildfire. We observed no difference in periphyton chlorophyll a or ash-free dry mass among different burn categories but did observe significantly greater biomass of benthic invertebrates in both high severity burned and unburned reaches versus low severity burned reaches. Moreover, a significantly greater flux of adult aquatic insect emergence occurred at sites that experienced high severity fire versus low severity burned and unburned sites. The greatest number of spiders and bat echolocation calls were also observed at sites of high severity fire. Our results suggest that fires of different severity may have very different affects on stream-riparian food webs and that high severity wildfire may lead to an extended “fire pulse” that stimulates aquatic productivity and flux of prey to terrestrial habitats, driving local increases in riparian consumers.

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Influence of different riparian vegetation widths and substrate types on the communities of larval Odonata (Insecta) in southern Brazilian streams

Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia ◽

10.1590/s2179-975x2520 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

Author(s):

Mateus Marques Pires ◽

Nícolas Felipe Drumm Müller ◽

Cristina Stenert ◽

Leonardo Maltchik

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Riparian Vegetation ◽

Organic Substrate ◽

Organic Substrates ◽

Substrate Type ◽

Insect Communities ◽

Odonate Larvae ◽

Influence Of Substrate ◽

Forest Streams ◽

Substrate Types

Abstract: Aim We assessed the influence of substrate type and categories of riparian vegetation widths on the community structure of Odonata (Insecta) in southern Brazilian streams. Methods Sampling took place in twelve stream reaches differing in their riparian vegetation widths (from more than 40 m up to less than 5 m). Larval odonates were collected in inorganic (stone and gravel) and organic (leaf litter) substrates at each stream reach. Differences in Odonata composition among substrates and categories of riparian vegetation width were tested using PERMANOVA and visualized with ordination diagrams. In addition, we assessed the influence of riparian vegetation width taking into account two levels of resolutions: fine (four categories: > 40 m, 30-15 m, 15-5 m and < 5 m) and coarse (narrower and broader than 15 m). Results Odonata composition differed more strongly according to substrate type regardless of the level of resolution. Organic substrate (litter) had different composition and higher richness than inorganic ones. Odonata composition significantly differed between riparian vegetation widths at the coarser level of resolution (narrower and broader than 15 m); at the coarser level, the interaction between substrate and riparian widths was significant, with the composition from litter substrate in broader widths differing from stone and gravel in narrower widths. Conclusions The composition of odonate larvae responded to the major reductions in riparian widths (above > 15 m), indicating that reductions above this level are enough to affect the community structure of Odonata. Additionally, the different composition of Odonata in organic substrates in broader riparian vegetation widths compared to inorganic substrates in narrower widths indicate a complex relationship between riparian vegetation and substrate in the assembly of insect communities in southern Brazilian forest streams. The interaction between riparian vegetation widths and substrate suggests that the effects of reductions in riparian widths on Odonata composition are not similar across substrate types.

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