Functional feeding groups of Protist Ciliates (Protist: Ciliophora) on a neotropical flood plain

Functional diversity approaches have been an efficient tool in gaining a better understanding of how environmental conditions selected species in a given environment and how they share resources, linking ecological processes to biodiversity patterns. Although most of the protist ciliates are not highly specialized, functional feeding groups with species which ingest similar food can be identified. Thus, this study aimed to compare the abundance of different Functional Feeding Groups (FFG) of ciliates in environments with different hydrodynamic conditions (lotic and lentic) in different hydrological periods (high and low water) in a neotropical flood plain. The samples for analysis of the community of ciliates were taken in March and September of 2010 and 2011, at the subsurface of 12 different hydrodynamic environments. The results of an RDA showed a spatial and temporal segregation of the sampling units, based on the abundance and occurrence of the FFG. In addition, a clear influence of food resources on the structuring of functional ciliate guilds was evidenced. Thus, there were both temporal (hydrological periods) and spatial (different hydrodynamic environments) differences in the distribution of the FFG, with a clear separation of the FFGs between the years studied. In summary, the results of the categorization of species of ciliates in FFG responded satisfactorily suggesting fluctuations in different food resources, which reinforces the idea that the grouping of species by functional characteristics can be a good indicator of the responses of organisms to environmental fluctuations.

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Preliminary Results on Aquatic Insects in the Me Linh Station for Biodiversity, Vinh Phuc Province

VNU Journal of Science Natural Sciences and Technology ◽

10.25073/2588-1140/vnunst.4696 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Nguyen Van Hieu ◽

Nguyen Van Vinh

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Analysis ◽

Aquatic Insects ◽

Field Survey ◽

Aquatic Insect ◽

Insect Species ◽

Functional Feeding Groups ◽

Species Number ◽

Feeding Groups ◽

Preliminary Results

An intensive field survey on aquatic insects of Me Linh Station for Biodiversity in Vinhphuc province was conducted in December 2015. Specimens were collected at 8 different sites and aquatic insects were collected both quantitatively by Surber net and qualitatively by hand net, pond net. As a result, a total of 110 aquatic insect species belonging to 98 genera, 49 families and 9 orders were recognized. Among these, the order Ephemeroptera had the highest species number with 26 species, followed by Odonata with 25 species, Trichoptera with 18 species, Coleoptera with 15 species, Hemiptera with 11 species, Diptera with 9 species. Lepidoptera, Plecoptera and Megaloptera had the lowest of species number, represented by 3 species of Lepidoptera, 2 species of Plecoptera and 1 species of Megaloptera. Besides, the quantitative analysis results and the functional feeding groups were provided.

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Microhabitat selection and distribution of functional feeding groups of mayfly larvae (Ephemeroptera) in lotic karst habitats

Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems ◽

10.1051/kmae/2018011 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 17 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marina Vilenica ◽

Andreja Brigić ◽

Michel Sartori ◽

Zlatko Mihaljević

Keyword(s):

Water Current ◽

Functional Feeding Groups ◽

Feeding Strategies ◽

Microhabitat Selection ◽

Dinaric Karst ◽

Feeding Groups ◽

Microhabitat Preferences ◽

One Year ◽

Physical And Chemical ◽

Chemical Water

Research examining mayfly ecology in karst streams and rivers has increased in recent years, though microhabitat preferences remain poorly characterized. We examined mayfly assemblage taxonomy, functional feeding groups and microhabitat preferences in two contrasting lotic Dinaric karst catchments, one pristine and one anthropogenically impacted. At monthly intervals over a one-year period, all major microhabitats (i.e. dominated by boulders, cobbles, sand, silt, mosses, or angiosperms) were sampled at sites spanning springs, upper, middle and lower river reaches, and tufa barriers. In both catchments, mayfly species richness was comparable among microhabitats, while mayfly abundance was highest on mosses and lowest on silt. NMDS ordination did not group assemblages according to microhabitat type, which may reflect the greater influence of physical and chemical water properties. In both catchments and all microhabitats, mayfly assemblages were dominated by grazers/scrapers at upstream sites and by detritivores at downstream sites. Active filter feeders were more abundant in microhabitats with silt substrates and lower current velocities. This study demonstrated that certain mayfly species strongly preferred a specific microhabitat type, reflecting their water current preferences and feeding strategies, while other species shifted between microhabitats, likely in search of food resources and shelter. The results emphasize the importance of habitat heterogeneity in supporting diverse communities in karst rivers.

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Discovery of coprolites in an Early Permian fern mesophyll

Palaeoentomology ◽

10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.1.1 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Author(s):

WEI-MING ZHOU ◽

MING-LI WAN ◽

JOSEF PŠENIČKA ◽

JUN WANG

Keyword(s):

Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽

Functional Feeding Groups ◽

Early Permian ◽

Plant Organs ◽

Feeding Groups ◽

Fossil Records

Plants and arthropods interact with each other and constitute an important part of the modern terrestrial ecosystem (Schoonhoven et al., 2005). Historically, fossil records of plant-arthropod interactions have been well documented in Paleozoic terrestrial ecosystems, which were evidenced by large coprolites containing various plant fragments (e.g., Salter et al., 2012), small larvae and coprolites remained in plant organs (e.g., Feng et al., 2017), and diverse functional feeding groups discovered on plant stems, rachises, roots, leaves and fertile organs (e.g., Liu et al., 2020).

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