Inter-linkages between in-stream plant diversity and macroinvertebrate communities

Evidence of freshwater biodiversity decline, species extinction and severe alterations in the biological structure and function of freshwater ecosystems is accumulating. Here we explore the role of macrophyte diversity in lowland streams for the abundance, taxon richness and composition of macroinve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2025-01, Vol.852 (1), p.235-247
Main Authors: Baattrup-Pedersen, Annette, Friis, Klaus Bertram, Friberg, Nikolai, Riis, Tenna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Agricultural watersheds
Aquatic ecosystems
Aquatic plants
Bioaccumulation
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Catchment area
Catchments
Composition
Ecology
Freshwater
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Freshwater ecosystems
Inland water environment
Life Sciences
Macroinvertebrates
Plant diversity
Plant layout
Plant species
Population decline
Primary Research Paper
Rivers
Species extinction
Streams
Structure-function relationships
Zoobenthos
Zoology
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Summary:Evidence of freshwater biodiversity decline, species extinction and severe alterations in the biological structure and function of freshwater ecosystems is accumulating. Here we explore the role of macrophyte diversity in lowland streams for the abundance, taxon richness and composition of macroinvertebrate communities also including the abundance of different functional feeding groups. We applied a controlled in situ experiment in four small lowland stream reaches situated in rural landscapes in Denmark. We were able to explain a major fraction of the variability in the macroinvertebrate communities by differences in total macrophyte surface areas among treatments, but the number of macrophyte species in the experimental treatment also played a highly significant role (i.e. one, two or three plant species) for both the abundance, richness and composition of the macroinvertebrate community. We strongly encourage managers to protect plant diversity in streams, not only because the plants themselves constitute an important part of the biodiversity, but also because they positively affect the macroinvertebrate community. Moreover, macrophyte-friendly management can be seen as a nature-based solution to mitigate the degraded physical conditions characterising many streams in agricultural catchments.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-024-05700-5