2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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5/20/2019 | 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM | RESILIENCE ISN’T ALWAYS HEALTHY: DISTURBING DEGRADED COMMUNITIES TO REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FILTERING | 251 DE

RESILIENCE ISN’T ALWAYS HEALTHY: DISTURBING DEGRADED COMMUNITIES TO REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FILTERING

To investigate how environmental filtering shapes communities, we conducted a meta-analysis of New Zealand streams across different stressor gradients. This identified distinct community types characterised by species trait composition, from low-diversity degraded systems dominated by taxa with protective structures (e.g. snails) to biodiverse springs home to mobile invertebrates (e.g. mayflies). Community resistance and resilience are characteristics usually associated with high biodiversity and good ecological health, and often underpin restoration goals. However, degraded ecosystems can also be resistant and resilient to disturbance making them highly stable and thus difficult to restore. We propose these communities must first be destabilised to facilitate recovery, requiring an understanding of how different communities respond to additional disturbance. We tested this in stream mesocosms, where impacts of contrasting stressors (flooding, sedimentation, and nutrients) on community types sourced from flood-prone rivers, stable springs and agriculturally impacted streams were assessed. A significant three-way interaction between community type, stress type and drift over time indicated that disturbance history and corresponding community type influence community stress response, with patterns often driven by particular taxa and traits. As such, stressors could be used to trigger positive community change in restoration.

Disturbance
Multi-stressors
Mesocosm

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Presenters/Authors

Isabelle Barrett (), University of Canterbury, issie.barrett@canterbury.ac.nz;