2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/26/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | The effects of flow intermittency on benthic macroinvertebrate communities of an alpine catchment, Val Roseg, Switzerland | Virtual Platform

The effects of flow intermittency on benthic macroinvertebrate communities of an alpine catchment, Val Roseg, Switzerland

Stream intermittency is expected to intensify in the Alps, with increasing temperatures and changing precipitation regimes. Yet, the ecological effects of increasing flow intermittency remain understudied in alpine streams, largely because of the difficulty to characterize intermittency at fine temporal and spatial scales. Here, modified light sensors were used to record flow presence/absence hourly over a year in 30 streams of the Val Roseg, a glacierized alpine catchment in South East Switzerland. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled at three dates and we investigated how structural and functional attributes of the macroinvertebrate communities changed along a gradient of flow intermittency. We found a weaker effect of intermittency on community composition than expected, suggesting that communities might be well adapted to flow cessation. However, and quite surprisingly, alpha diversity and taxonomic richness were lowest in permanent, groundwater-fed streams where assemblages were dominated by Diptera. This appeared to result from habitat differences, with higher organic matter content and stable temperature regimes in permanent streams. These findings could have large implications for our understanding of biodiversity maintenance and metacommunity dynamics in intermittent alpine catchments, where permanent streams might not act as species-rich drought refugia.

Biodiversity
Stream
Non-perennial rivers

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Presenters/Authors

Pierre Chanut (), EAWAG (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), pierre.chanut@eawag.ch;