Effects of Didymosphenia geminata massive growth on stream communities: Smaller organisms and simplified food web structure

PloS One
Rubén LadreraNarcís Prat

Abstract

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the impact of Didymosphenia geminata massive growths upon river ecosystem communities' composition and functioning. This is the first study to jointly consider the taxonomic composition and functional structure of diatom and macroinvertebrate assemblages in order to determine changes in community structure, and the food web alterations associated with this invasive alga. This study was carried out in the Lumbreras River (Ebro Basin, La Rioja, Northern Spain), which has been affected by a considerable massive growth of D. geminata since 2011. The study shows a profound alteration in both the river community composition and in the food web structure at the sites affected by the massive growth, which is primarily due to the alteration of the environmental conditions, thus demonstrating that D. geminata has an important role as an ecosystem engineer in the river. Thick filamentous mats impede the movement of large invertebrates-especially those that move and feed up on it-and favor small, opportunistic, herbivorous organisms, mainly chironomids, that are capable of moving between filaments and are aided by the absence of large trophic competitors and predators -prey release effe...Continue Reading

References

Dec 1, 1986·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·R Fernandez-BotranE S Vitetta
Dec 8, 2005·Annual Review of Entomology·Núria BonadaBernhard Statzner
Jun 13, 2012·The International Journal of Developmental Biology·Goran Kovacevic

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Citations

Sep 17, 2019·Water Environment Research : a Research Publication of the Water Environment Federation·Paula C FureySylvia Lee

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Software Mentioned

DISTLM
PERMANOVA
PRIMER

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