2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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6/06/2017 | 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM | ECOLOGICAL RESPONSES ALONG A TROPICAL GEOTHERMAL STREAM GRADIENT: EXPLORING POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE | 306B

ECOLOGICAL RESPONSES ALONG A TROPICAL GEOTHERMAL STREAM GRADIENT: EXPLORING POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Understanding ecological responses to global warming in aquatic environments is an important and urgent challenge. Experimental manipulation of stream temperature under realistic conditions is difficult, consequently our comprehension of the impacts of these changes is still limited. However, using natural temperature gradients could capture the actual complexity of streams while allowing us to assess their ecological responses to contrasting temperature regimes. We used a ‘natural temperature gradient experiment’ in eight high altitude (3900m) tropical geothermal stream sites in northern Ecuador, ranging in temperatures from 5C to 57C, to test the influence of temperature across multiple levels of organization. At each site, we characterized mayfly (Andesiops sp.) body size, invertebrate community composition and litter decomposition rates. Temperature affected mayfly size, with smaller individuals occurring at higher temperatures. Similarly, community evenness was negatively related to temperature with a strong decline in species similarity as temperature differences increase. Higher temperatures lead to higher decomposition rates, except at the very high temperature sites. Our results suggest that higher temperatures will have overarching effects on the structure, composition and function of tropical stream ecosystems.

C20 Climate Change
C11 Community Ecology
S09 The importance of environmental gradients for the advance of tropical stream ecology

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Presenters/Authors

Andrea C. Encalada (), Instituto BIOSFERA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbayá, Ecuador Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbaya, Ecuador, aencalada@usfq.edu.ec;