Assessing alpha and beta diversities of benthic macroinvertebrates and their environmental drivers between watersheds with different levels of habitat transformation in Japan
Chia-Ying Ko A B M , Tomoya Iwata C , Jun-Yi Lee D , Aya Murakami E , Junichi Okano E , Naoto F. Ishikawa F , Yoichiro Sakai G , Ichiro Tayasu H , Masayuki Itoh I , Uhram Song J , Hiroyuki Togashi K , Shinich Nakano E , Nobuhito Ohte L and Noboru Okuda H M
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Institute of Fisheries Science, National Taiwan University, Number 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
B Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Number 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
C Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Yamanashi, 4-4-37 Takeda, Kofu, 400-8510, Japan.
D Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, Number 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
E Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 509-3, 2-chome, Hirano, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan.
F Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan.
G Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute, 5-34 Yanagasaki, Otsu, Shiga, 520-0022, Japan.
H Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 457-4 Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kyoto, 603-8047, Japan.
I School of Human Science and Environment, University of Hyogo, 1-1-12 Shinzaike-honcho, Himeji 670-0092, Japan.
J Department of Biology, Jeju National University, 102 Jejudaehang-ro, Ara-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea.
K Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 3-27-5 Shinhama, Shiogama, Miyagi, 985-0001, Japan.
L Department of Social Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
M Corresponding authors. Email: cyko235@ntu.edu.tw; nokuda@chikyu.ac.jp
Marine and Freshwater Research 70(4) 504-512 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18031
Submitted: 24 January 2018 Accepted: 10 September 2018 Published: 21 November 2018
Abstract
Little is known about differences in species diversity among ecological communities subject to different levels of human-caused habitat transformation and how this disturbance contributes to diversity through symbiotic dependencies with the environment in freshwater ecosystems. We estimated α and β diversities of benthic macroinvertebrates and relationships between diversity and environmental variables in Ado River (natural) and Yasu River (intermediately disturbed) watersheds, Japan. Alpha diversity was consistently slightly higher in the natural river watershed than in the intermediately disturbed one, but the spatial distribution was not equivalent. The opposite pattern was found for β diversity. Significant differences in environmental variables existed between the two river watersheds, with especially high chlorophyll-a concentrations detected in the intermediately disturbed watershed. Alpha diversity was not correlated with specific environmental variables, whereas water temperature and chlorophyll-a concentrations were the two most significant environmental variables influencing β diversity across sites in the two watersheds. These results suggest that diversity patterns in freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates are differentially influenced by levels of human-caused habitat transformation, especially that intermediately disturbed habitats may benefit species turnover, and further understanding how they relate to environmental variables is essential for protecting local to regional diversity and can provide useful information for conservation planning to maximise biodiversity at the watershed scale.
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