Stream Macroinvertebrate Research Articles

The relative importance of abiotic, biotic, and spatial factors in structuring the stream macroinvertebrate metacommunity in a temperate rainforest

The relative importance of abiotic, biotic, and spatial factors in structuring the stream macroinvertebrate metacommunity in a temperate rainforest

Long-term changes and seasonal variability in the stream macrofauna of a Himalayan river system

Interpreting long-term variability in mountain stream ecosystems is challenging where potential causes such as climate change and altered land-use act simultaneously. The scarcity of historical data also limits research opportunity, especially at low latitudes. Here we assess the macroinvertebrate fauna of 12 Himalayan streams in Nepal covering an altitudinal gradient from 1500 to 3900 m asl using data from 1992, 2022 and 2023. We aimed to: 1) compare long-term change in richness and community composition over three decades to short-term seasonal variation, and 2) analyse long-term changes in relation to catchment properties. Rarefied richness decreased equally with altitude in 1992 and 2022, but was greater at most sites in 2022, with several new families detected. In contrast, no clear seasonal pattern was found. The 2022:1992 ratio in rarefied richness was positively correlated with catchment area and weakly with maximum catchment altitude, while the two highest and glaciated sites gained relatively more taxa than other sites. NMDS ordinations from rarefied Bray-Curtis dissimilarities showed considerable overlap in communities among the three datasets. Pairwise rarefied dissimilarities among all sites increased significantly with altitudinal distance between sites in 1992 while there was no such relationship in 2022. Dissimilarities between 1992 and 2022 samples showed a near-significant correlation with increased catchment vegetation cover as shown by NDVI. Our study is the first to document long-term variations in stream macroinvertebrate communities in Himalayan mountain streams, illustrating how some altitudinal patterns have remained stable through time while others appear to have weakened with links to global change.

Effects of Land Use on the Community Structure of Aquatic Invertebrate in Subtropical Streams

Streams constitute the water supply of the watersheds and provide the transfer of energy along the course of water, ensuring water biodiversity. Due to the different uses of the earth, the benthic community is being suppressed. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of changes in land use on the abundance, richness, and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates in subtropical streams, considering the physical and chemical variables of streams seasonally. In total, 144 samples were collected between February 2022 and November 2023 at 12 sites distributed in a watershed in southern Brazil, four sites for each land use. Herein, 83.520 individuals were identified, comprising 67 taxa. There was a decrease in richness along the forested–rural–urban gradient and a greater abundance in the urban environment, without the significant influence of seasonality. We conclude that the diversity of benthic macroinvertebrate in the streams is influenced not only by environmental variables but also by the spatial distribution between streams. The proximity of the streams generates a similarity in dominance. This study contributed to understanding the relationships of the environment with the benthic community and considering the spatial distribution among the streams sampled in future investigations.

Adaption of a traditional Māori fishing method for biomonitoring: using whakaweku for sampling benthic macroinvertebrates in streams

ABSTRACT Whakaweku are bundles of bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum) traditionally placed in lakes and rivers by Māori to harvest kōura (freshwater crayfish, Paranephrops spp.) in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Previous studies show they are effective for monitoring populations of kōura and toitoi (small eleotrid fish, Gobiomorphus spp.). We wanted to determine whether whakaweku are also effective for monitoring benthic macroinvertebrate communities in streams. We placed whakaweku in a hard-bottomed and a soft-bottomed reach of a rural stream in the Waikato, and took standard ‘kick-net’ samples from the same locations. We retrieved whakaweku after two and four weeks submerged. Whakaweku gave comparable results to kick-net sampling for common macroinvertebrate metrics (MCI, SQMCI, total richness and EPT* richness). Macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly different between the two methods, but most taxa were common to both. Macroinvertebrate metrics did not change significantly between two-week and four-week colonisation periods. A wider study would show whether whakaweku can distinguish between sites over a gradient of human impact. We recommend whakaweku in Māori cultural and community stream monitoring as it is inexpensive, simple to use, captures many macroinvertebrate taxa used in biomonitoring, works in different stream types and can be used to monitor kōura, toitoi and macroinvertebrates simultaneously.

Effects of water nutrient concentrations on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry: a large-scale study

Effects of water nutrient concentrations on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry: a large-scale study

Long-term patterns of stream macroinvertebrates in an alpine cirque landscape

Alpine landscapes are notable regarding their sensitivity to environmental change. Surface waters are especially sensitive as many are influenced by glacial meltwaters that are diminishing with the retreat of glaciers worldwide. The Macun Lakes region, Swiss National Park, is an alpine cirque landscape housing a number of lakes interconnected by streams. The area has been non-glaciated for decades, although rock glaciers are still present in the south basin. Surface waters, 10 stream sites in the present study, have been monitored in mid-summer since the year 2001 for physico-chemistry, periphyton and macroinvertebrates (including 74 species of chironomids). Water physico-chemistry revealed that the two main basins in the catchment differed, reflecting the inputs of rock glacier waters in the south basin. However, trends suggest that waters are becoming more similar as rock glacier inputs diminish over time along with a general decrease in nitrogen levels in all waters. Periphyton biomass showed some spatial differences among sites and a general decrease after 2010. Macroinvertebrate assemblages, including chironomids, clearly differed among basins and spatially along the stream network in each basin. Notably, no significant temporal trend was observed in the long-term data for macroinvertebrates, including chironomids, at the monitored sites. The results suggest that lotic macroinvertebrates may be buffered by the interconnectedness of streams and lakes in the landscape, which mitigates major response patterns of running waters to environmental change.

How does geology influence the effect of land use on stream macroinvertebrate communities?

Abstract Both catchment geology and land use surrounding a stream will affect the degree of fine sediment deposition from erosion and its consequent impacts on stream macroinvertebrate communities. While geology and land use have been shown to impact stream communities individually, their interaction has received less attention. We investigated the interaction between geology and land use on stream macroinvertebrate communities in the Tairāwhiti Region, New Zealand. The region has streams that drain harder sandstones and softer shales and mudstones, the latter having some of the highest erosion rates in the world. Macroinvertebrates were sampled each year between 2016 and 2018 at 80 sites in exotic forest, indigenous forest and pasture streams that drained hard or soft geology catchments. Conductivity in pasture and exotic forest streams was nearly twice as high as in indigenous forest streams and higher in soft than hard sediment streams. Deposited sediment cover was greater in soft than hard sediment streams, and greater in pasture and exotic forest streams than in indigenous forest streams. Periphyton cover did not differ between land uses but was higher in soft sediment streams. Ecological health was higher in the indigenous forest sites, intermediate in exotic forest sites and lowest in pasture streams. Biological indices were also higher within each land use in streams draining hard than soft sediment streams. Invertebrate communities appear to be determined primarily by the amount of deposited fine sediment and conductivity, both of which are higher in soft than in hard bottom streams, and in exotic forest and pasture streams. Synthesis and applications: Our results illustrate a complex and strong interaction between geology and land use and the consequent impact on stream macroinvertebrate communities. The combination of soft bottom streams with pasture or exotic forest land use is more detrimental than in similar hard bottom streams. Therefore, regulations for the management of any given land use need to be much stricter in catchments dominated by soft sediment geology.

Detecting mining impacts on freshwater ecosystems using replicated sampling before and after the impact

Detecting human impact on freshwater ecosystems is problematic without rigorous assessment of temporal changes. Assessments of mining impacts are further complicated by the strong influence of local catchment geology on surface waters even in unmined environments. Such influence cannot be effectively considered by using broad-scale reference frameworks based on regionalization and stream types. Using the BACI (Before-After Control-Impact) design, we examined the impact of mining discharges on freshwater algae and macroinvertebrate communities resulting from the rerouting of treated wastewaters through a pipeline to larger water bodies in Northern and North-Eastern Finland. Impacted sites and control sites were sampled 1 to 2 years before and 1 to 3 years after the pipelines became operational. Stream diatom communities recovered from past loadings upstream of the pipeline (which was no longer impacted by wastewaters) after rerouting of the wastewaters, while no changes downstream from the pipeline were detected. Upstream from the pipeline, diatom species richness increased and changes in relative abundances of the most common diatom taxa as well as in the overall community composition were observed. The effects of the pipeline were less evident for stream macroinvertebrate communities. There was an indication that regional reference conditions used in national biomonitoring may not represent diatom communities in areas with a strong geochemical background influence. Lake profundal macroinvertebrate communities were impacted by past loadings before the construction of the pipeline, and the influence of the pipeline was observed only as changes in the abundances of a few individual species such as phantom midges (which increased in abundance in response to discharges directed through the pipeline). Our results highlight the variable influence of mining discharges on aquatic communities. Statistically strong monitoring programmes, such as BACI designs, are clearly needed to detect these influences.

The influence of water phosphorus and nitrogen loads on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry

The influence of water phosphorus and nitrogen loads on stream macroinvertebrate community stoichiometry

An index of biotic integrity for macroinvertebrate stream bioassessment conducted by community scientists

An index of biotic integrity for macroinvertebrate stream bioassessment conducted by community scientists

Slow drawdown, fast recovery: Stream macroinvertebrate communities improve quickly after large dam decommissioning

Abstract Dam removal is increasingly considered as a river restoration tool for impoundments that harm the environment or have exceeded their lifespan. However, few studies report the ecological consequences of large dam removal. We performed a multiple before‐after/control‐impact (mBACI) study to investigate the consequences of the decommissioning of a large dam (42 m high) on instream habitat and invertebrate communities in a temperate, forested catchment of northern Spain. Before decommissioning, lack of fine sediments and high concentrations of manganese and iron occurred below the dam but decreased downstream. Invertebrate taxa richness and diversity were reduced, and pollution‐sensitive taxa were missing just below the dam. The drawdown of the reservoir, the first step towards its decommissioning, mobilized stored sediments causing frequent turbidity peaks downstream, which nevertheless, caused no detrimental effects on macroinvertebrate communities. One year after drawdown, the communities downstream from the dam, as well as those in the newly formed stream in the area formerly impounded by the reservoir, became very similar to those in control reaches, showing a successful restoration project. Synthesis and applications. Dam decommissioning helps restore instream habitats and facilitates the recovery of invertebrate communities in a very short time frame if there are nearby sources of potential colonizers. Slow drawdown reduces the transport of the sediments accumulated in the reservoir and their potential downstream impacts, even more if prior to drawdown the reservoir is kept full for years to promote the deposition of sediments in marginal areas that will later be readily colonized by trees.

Stream macroinvertebrate communities in restored and impacted catchments respond differently to climate, land-use, and runoff over a decade

Identifying which environmental drivers underlie degradation and improvements of ecological communities is a fundamental goal of ecology. Achieving this goal is a challenge due to diverse trends in both environmental conditions and ecological communities across regions, and it is constrained by the lack of long-term parallel monitoring of environmental and community data needed to study causal relationships. Here, we identify key environmental drivers using a high-resolution environmental - ecological dataset, an ensemble of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) model, and ecological models to investigate effects of climate, land-use, and runoff on the decadal trend (2012−2021) of stream macroinvertebrate communities in a restored urban catchment and an impacted catchment with mixed land-uses in Germany. The decadal trends showed decreased precipitation, increased temperature, and reduced anthropogenic land-uses, which led to opposing runoff trends – with decreased runoff in the restored catchment and increased runoff in the impacted catchment. The two catchments also varied in decadal trends of taxonomic and trait composition and metrics. The most significant improvements over time were recorded in communities of the restored catchment sites, which have become wastewater free since 2007 to 2009. Within the restored catchment sites, community metric trends were primarily explained by land-use and evaporation trends, while community composition trends were mostly associated with precipitation and runoff trends. Meanwhile, the communities in the impacted catchment did not undergo significant changes between 2012 and 2021, likely influenced by the effects of prolonged droughts following floods after 2018. The results of our study confirm the significance of restoration and land-use management in fostering long-term improvements in stream communities, while climate change remains a prodigious threat. The coupling of long-term biodiversity monitoring with concurrent sampling of relevant environmental drivers is critical for preventative and restorative management in ecology.

Reconnecting a stream channel to its floodplain: implications for benthic diatoms and macroinvertebrate trophic structure

Streams systems draining upland landscapes provide valuable ecosystem services, but they are vulnerable to incision and channelization caused by anthropogenic disturbance. Restoring a degraded stream to its pre‐disturbance condition by reconnecting the channel to its historical floodplain aims to recover lost hydro‐morphological processes and functions. Seeking evidence to indicate whether that aim is met in practice, we examined diatoms and the stream macroinvertebrate trophic structures in three reaches of Whychus Creek, Oregon, United States. Two reaches were reconnected to their pre‐disturbance floodplains in 2012 and 2016. The third, control reach, was not restored and was selected to represent the degraded stream condition prior to restoration. Ordinations showed that benthic diatom species composition shifted from the control reach to the restored reaches. Compared to the control reach, reconnection decreased the percentages of diatoms with nitrogen (N)‐fixing cyanobacterial endosymbionts in the 2012 restored reach and decreased diatoms tolerant to low N conditions in both the restored reaches. δ15N values in both stream macroinvertebrates and tree leaves in the riparian zone were higher in the restored reaches. These findings suggest that floodplain reconnection may modify hydro‐morphological processes and ecosystem functions in ways that enhance organic matter retention and hyporheic exchange, resulting in increased nutrient availability, improved nutrient cycling, and greater primary productivity. More generally, our results suggest that characterizing diatom species composition and trophic interactions using stable isotopes provides the basis for identifying and evaluating the beneficial effects of stream restoration on ecosystem functions and the food‐web.

From DNA to diagnostics: A case study using macroinvertebrate metabarcoding to assess the effectiveness of restoration measures in a Dutch stream

Stream ecosystems are under pressure due to multiple stressors. Restoration measures can halt further degradation and improve their ecological status. However, assessment of the effectiveness of the implemented measures is often insufficient because of logistic and financial constraints. DNA-metabarcoding has been proposed to scale up sample processing, although its application as a diagnostic tool has received less attention. The aim of our study was to evaluate if DNA-metabarcoding of stream macroinvertebrates can be used to compute a stressor-specific index to assess the effectiveness of a stream restoration project. For this purpose, we sampled the upstream, restored, and downstream section of a recently restored lowland stream in the Netherlands. At each site, we applied three different methods of macroinvertebrate identification: morphological identification of bulk samples (morphology), DNA-metabarcoding of the same bulk samples (DNA) and metabarcoding of eDNA extracted from the water (eDNA). First, we compared the community composition identified by each method. The communities identified by morphology and DNA were highly similar, whereas the communities generated by the eDNA differed. Second, we analysed whether the identification methods could be used to assess the effectiveness of the restoration project, focussing on a stressor-specific index for flow as the restoration measures aimed at improving flow conditions. Both the morphology and bulk DNA samples indicated improved flow conditions in the restored section of the stream (i.e., less stress from the reduction or absence of flow than in the unrestored sections). Contrary, the eDNA-water samples did not differentiate the amount of stress throughout the catchment, although applying recent developments in eDNA sampling could lead to more robust results. In conclusion, this study forms proof of concept that DNA from bulk samples can be utilized to assess the effectiveness of restoration measures, showing the added value of this approach for water managers.

Combined benthic and stream edge sampling better represent macroinvertebrate assemblages than benthic sampling alone along an aridity gradient

AbstractStudies of stream macroinvertebrates traditionally use sampling methods that target benthic habitats. These methods could underestimate biodiversity if important assemblage components exist outside of the benthic zone. To test the efficacy of different sampling methods, we collected paired reach‐wide benthic and edge samples from up to 10 study reaches in nine basins spanning an aridity gradient across the United States. Edge sampling targeted riparian‐adjacent microhabitats not typically sampled, including submerged vegetation, roots, and overhanging banks. We compared observed richness, asymptotic richness, and assemblage dissimilarity between benthic samples alone and different combinations of benthic and edge samples to determine the magnitude of increased diversity and assemblage dissimilarity values with the addition of edge sampling. We also examined how differences in richness and assemblage composition varied across an aridity gradient. The addition of edge sampling significantly increased observed richness (median increase = 29%) and asymptotic richness (median increase = 173%). Similarly, median Bray–Curtis dissimilarity values increased by as much as 0.178 when benthic and edge samples were combined. Differences in richness metrics were generally higher in arid basins, but assemblage dissimilarity either increased or decreased across the aridity gradient depending on how benthic and edge samples were combined. Our results suggest that studies that do not sample stream edges may significantly underestimate reach diversity and misrepresent assemblage compositions, with effects that can vary across climates. We urge researchers to carefully consider sampling methods in field studies spanning climatic zones and the comparability of existing data sets when conducting data synthesis studies.

Ecological Significance of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Headwater Streams

Headwater streams are the starting points of river ecosystems, that consist of an array of unique microhabitats. Most of these stream segments are first-order streams and these aquatic ecosystems provide habitats for many macroinvertebrates including arthropods, mollusks, annelids, nematodes, and turbellarians. These species play a significant role in maintaining the ecological integrity of the river ecosystem. Specifically, their feeding habits of scraping, collecting, shuddering, and predating make a significant contribution to maintaining stable food webs within the stream ecosystems. These macroinvertebrates are highly sensitive to environmental changes and consequently, they have been used as indicators of environmental quality. Although the aquatic macroinvertebrates play a crucial role in headwater streams, they face stresses caused either by nature itself or man leading to their extinction on certain occasions. Global warming, acidification, deforestation, forest fires, industrialization, intensive agriculture, and livestock farming practices have been identified as potential stresses behind the extinction and biodiversity losses of macroinvertebrates in headwater streams. Therefore, the abundance and distribution of macroinvertebrates in headwater streams need to be critically considered in developing criteria for development projects, agricultural practices, and other environmental management strategies to protect and conserve these unique environmental creatures.

Patterns of diversity in stream macroinvertebrate communities in a low-gradient agricultural stream (Sydenham River, Ontario, Canada) were driven by surficial geology and catchment position

Abstract Freshwater biodiversity is increasingly at risk wherever land uses such as agriculture exert multiple stressors that degrade habitat quality. Although stream macroinvertebrates act as bioindicators for monitoring these impacts, their responses are context-specific: examining drivers of community composition is therefore important to understand the results of monitoring efforts. In a primarily agricultural landscape, 15 sites across the Sydenham River watershed, Ontario, Canada, were assessed for in-stream habitat quality and stream macroinvertebrate diversity. We predicted that community assemblage would be driven by differences in surficial geology across branch (east branch versus north branch) and catchment position (main stem versus tributary). We found that the main stem of the east branch was characterised by significantly higher proportions (P = 0.053) and abundance (P = 0.038) of Ephemeroptera–Plecoptera–Trichoptera (EPT) taxa than north branch sites were, and sites in the east and north branch tributaries were characterised by significantly lower Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI) scores (P = 0.088). Redundancy analysis found that substrate size was the main driver of community composition, generating a model that described these patterns across branch and catchment position. Our findings suggest that EPT abundance and HBI scores were the variables that were most effective at revealing differences in stream communities due to agricultural impacts and that sediment size is an important driver of these patterns.

Along the river: Longitudinal patterns of functional and taxonomic diversity of plants in riparian forests

AbstractQuestionsThe River Continuum Concept (RCC) predicts a gradual shift of functional adaptations of organisms along the longitudinal (upstream–downstream) gradient, as well as the maximization of the biotic diversity in mid‐reaches. Although this theoretical framework was originally developed for stream macroinvertebrates, we tested whether such a pattern can also be observed in riparian plant communities.LocationThe study was conducted in the upper catchments of the San and Wisłoka Rivers in southeastern Poland. In both catchments, very well preserved riparian forests occur continuously along both rivers.MethodsWe studied the cover of plant species in riparian forests across two river networks. We analyzed the taxonomic and functional diversity indices, as well as community‐weighted means of functional traits in relation to the plots' positions in the catchments.ResultsThe functional richness and divergence displayed unimodal patterns of increasing values in the mid‐reaches. The patterns of taxonomic diversity were similar, but some plots in the lowest reaches were more diverse than expected, forming an additional increase in diversity. The observed patterns were largely in line with the predictions of RCC. We discovered a significant decrease in the specific leaf area and an increase in the height of herbaceous plants in communities along a longitudinal gradient. There was also a shift in the dispersal syndromes, toward a higher importance of zoochory in the lower reaches.ConclusionsThe study shows that plant communities in natural riparian forests show continuous species turnover along the longitudinal gradient that, along with the longitudinal shift of abiotic factors, creates patterns that are known from theoretical predictions.

Influence of water color and catchment lake cover on stream macroinvertebrate communities: Ecological insights into browning effects

Browning of streams due to increased export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and iron has been observed in vast areas of the northern hemisphere with likely adverse ecological effects. Lake basins in stream catchments can moderate DOC export and influence stream communities, which complicates understanding of the effects of DOC. In this study, we explored the independent and interactive effects of water color (proxy for DOC and iron) and catchment lake cover on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in 94 medium-sized boreal forest streams. We first investigated the role of lake basins and other catchment characteristics in controlling water color. We then studied the effects of water color and catchment lake cover on macroinvertebrate community composition, biodiversity, and functional feeding traits. Water color correlated negatively with catchment lake cover, whereas the correlation with peatland cover and drainage intensity was positive. PERMANOVA and GLS analyses indicated that both color and catchment lake cover had a distinct independent effect on invertebrate community composition and community attributes, without significant interactions. Color had an independent negative effect on EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa richness irrespective of lake cover. Increasing water color had negative effect on relative abundance of grazer, but no significant effect on shredder trait, while lake cover had a negative effect on both of the traits. Lake cover exhibited a negative influence on collector-gatherers, and a positive effect on filter feeders, while the predators were positively affected by both factors. The results highlight that water color influences the community structure of boreal stream ecosystems, and the effects are similar regardless of catchment lake cover. Mitigation measures should be emphasized, aimed at reducing DOC and iron runoff, in land use planning and river basin management.

Long-term trends in stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities are driven by chemicals

BackgroundRecent studies indicate a partial recovery of European stream macroinvertebrate diversity. However, the key determinants shaping the overall community trends are only partly explored, owing to insufficient long-term environmental data collected in parallel with community responses. We investigate long-term trends in stream macroinvertebrate communities (i.e., taxonomic and trait composition and metrics), and explore their relationships to diverse environmental drivers (i.e., land-use, runoff, water temperature, and in-stream chemicals). We use macroinvertebrate data collected annually in spring and summer between 2007 and 2021 at four sampling sites within the Rhine-Main-Observatory Long-Term Ecological Research site. These sampling sites encompass a gradient from less-disturbed to disturbed conditions.ResultsOver time, shifts in taxonomic and trait composition and metrics indicated an improvement in environmental conditions. Long-term trends of biological trait metrics mirrored those for taxonomic metrics; for example, increases over time in taxonomic richness were paralleled by increases in functional richness and functional dispersion. Meanwhile, trends of ecological trait metrics were particularly driven by changes in environmental drivers. Land-use, water temperature, and runoff explained around 20% of the overall variance in long-term trends of macroinvertebrate communities. Water temperature and land-use played relatively equal roles in shaping taxonomic and trait composition and metric responses in spring, while water temperature emerged as the most influential driver in summer. However, when incorporating long-term chemical data as a more direct measurement of changes in land-use, the overall variance explained in macroinvertebrate community trends increased to c.a. 50% in both seasons.ConclusionsExamining more relevant driver variables beyond land-use and climate improves insights into why biodiversity exhibits long-term trends. We call for an increase in initiatives to link biodiversity monitoring with parallel sampling of relevant environmental drivers.