Chironomidae of the Holarctic region: a comparison of ecological and functional traits between North America and Europe

Abstract

Chironomidae (Diptera) are widespread, abundant, diverse and ubiquitous, and include genera and species that are distributed across the Holarctic region. However, the geographical barriers between continents should have resulted in intraspecific population differentiation with reflection on individual biological and ecological traits. Our aim was to test for potential differences in Chironomidae species/genus and traits between the Nearctic and Palearctic regions. We compared the Chironomidae trait information gathered in two databases; one database was developed in Europe and the other in North America. Common genera and species of both databases were selected, and the common traits were adjusted into the same trait categories. Data were transformed into presence/absence and divided into Eltonian (biological/functional) and Grinnellian (ecological) traits. Common genera and common species were analyzed using Fuzzy correspondence analysis (FCA). Differences between databases occur for all trait domains. Yet, Eltonian traits showed lower level of concordance than Grinnellian traits at the species level. Different biological characteristics in the Nearctic and Palearctic regions may indicate that Chironomidae have different adaptions to similar ecological environments due to intraspecific variability or even trait plasticity.