Resource subsidies between stream and terrestrial ecosystems under global change

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Streams and terrestrial ecosystems exchange resources via subsidies.
• Global environmental change poses a significant, yet poorly understood, threat to these subsidies.
• Understanding these impacts is crucial for riverine ecosystem health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a conceptual framework for evaluating global change effects on stream-terrestrial subsidies.
• To synthesize current knowledge on how environmental changes influence subsidy quality and dynamics.
• To identify key drivers and research needs for understanding future subsidy alterations.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of existing evidence.
• Development of a conceptual framework linking global change drivers to subsidy dynamics.
• Analysis of impacts on donor/recipient systems and stream-terrestrial boundaries.

Main Results:

• Global change drivers (climate, CO2, land use, invasive species) alter subsidy quality and spatiotemporal dynamics.
• Changes in organism physiology, phenology, and species interactions affect subsidy fluxes.
• Altered hydrology and riparian vegetation modify allochthonous subsidies and boundary functions.
• Ecological mismatches between resource availability and consumers are likely.

Conclusions:

• A conceptual framework aids in understanding global change impacts on stream-terrestrial subsidies.
• Future research must address agricultural intensification, water use, and biotic homogenization.
• Understanding match-mismatch dynamics is key to predicting ecological consequences.