Community Synchrony in Aquatic Macroinvertebrates Is Unrelated to Environmental Variability but Differs Among...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Aquatic Biology

Background:

• Climate change increases environmental variability, potentially affecting species abundance and community dynamics.
• Aquatic macroinvertebrates are sensitive indicators of environmental change due to their species richness and response to fluctuations.
• Understanding community synchrony is crucial for predicting species temporal fluctuations under environmental stress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between community synchrony in stream macroinvertebrates and environmental variability (temperature, discharge) and species turnover.
• To quantify individual species' contributions to community synchrony and analyze these contributions by functional feeding group.
• To determine if functional feeding groups explain patterns of community synchrony in response to environmental changes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 18 stream macroinvertebrate communities from the National Ecological Observatory Network (2014-2022).
• Quantification of community synchrony, stream temperature variability, discharge variability, and species turnover.
• Aggregation of species contributions to synchrony by functional feeding groups (scrapers, filterers, shredders).

Main Results:

• Contrary to expectations, temperature variability, discharge variability, and species turnover were not significantly related to community synchrony.
• Contributions to community synchrony varied significantly among functional feeding groups.
• Scrapers and shredders exhibited lower synchrony compared to other functional feeding groups, with scrapers having the highest proportion of positively contributing taxa.

Conclusions:

• Functional feeding group identity, rather than environmental variability or turnover, appears to be a key factor influencing community synchrony in stream macroinvertebrates.
• Scrapers and shredders may play distinct roles in community dynamics due to their differing synchrony patterns.
• Integrating functional groupings offers a valuable approach for identifying species that drive community dynamics in the face of environmental change.