Cave benthic invertebrates in south-eastern Brazil: are there ‘key’ factors structuring such communities?
T. G. Pellegrini A C , P. S. Pompeu B and R. L. Ferreira A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Campus Universitário, 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
B Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Campus Universitário, 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
C Corresponding author. Email: thais.g.pellegrini@gmail.com
Marine and Freshwater Research 69(11) 1762-1770 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18025
Submitted: 6 June 2017 Accepted: 18 April 2018 Published: 13 August 2018
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the effects of microhabitat traits related to water quality and physical features of stream channels (substrate, channel morphology and hydraulic characteristics) on the richness and structure of the aquatic insect assemblage in cave streams. Sampling was conducted in three subterranean streams in Brazil. Aquatic insect richness was significantly and positively related to water depth and the presence of shelters for invertebrates. These shelters are directly related to channel heterogeneity, a factor that determined the surface area of habitats suitable for colonisation, refuges and the amount and variety of nutrients in streams where resources are extremely limited. Furthermore, analyses of community composition revealed that aquatic insect assemblages in each cave were structured by distinct factors (including physicochemical characteristics of the water or hydraulic features of the channel). Together, these findings highlight that different factors are responsible for structuring the assemblages in each cave, which may reflect their local variability, and that silting of cave streams would likely have deleterious effects on aquatic insect communities through reductions in overall habitat heterogeneity.
Additional keywords: aquatic insects, physical habitat, shelter, substrate heterogeneity, subterranean.
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