Trophic structure of invertebrate communities in ecosystems of salmon rivers in the southern Far East

Abstract

The formation of trophic structure has been studied in communities of amphibiotic insects (mayflies, stoneflies, caddis flies, and dipterans) and gammarids accounting for 90% of the total benthos biomass. The results show that the trophic groups prevailing by biomass in the metarithral subzone of small rivers are as follows: filtering collectors in rivers of the moderately cold-water type, collectors and scrapers in rivers of the cold-water type, and scraping predators and scrapers in rivers of the moderately warm-water type. Predators, scraping predators, and scrapers show seasonal changes in abundance and biomass. In the rithron of Far Eastern rivers, the abundance of predators regularly decreases in a south-north direction. The change of dominant groups along the longitudinal profile of the river is related to its zones and subzones. In the trophic structure of rivers exposed to anthropogenic impact, the number of trophic groups decreases and the remaining groups undergo changes in their qualitative composition and the ratio of their individual members.