The influence of substrate type on macroinvertebrate assemblages within agricultural drainage ditches
- PDF / 510,263 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 104 Downloads / 135 Views
(0123456789().,-volV) ( 01234567 89().,-volV)
PRIMARY RESEARCH PAPER
The influence of substrate type on macroinvertebrate assemblages within agricultural drainage ditches Kieran J. Gething Paul J. Wood
. Matthew C. Ripley . Kate L. Mathers . Richard P. Chadd .
Received: 2 November 2019 / Revised: 11 September 2020 / Accepted: 16 September 2020 Ó The Author(s) 2020
Handling editor: Dani Boix
within artificial drainage ditches. Each substrate type supported a distinct macroinvertebrate community highlighting the importance of habitat heterogeneity in maintaining macroinvertebrate assemblages. Each substrate type also displayed differing degrees of community heterogeneity, with gravel communities being most variable and artificial vegetation being the least. In addition, several macroinvertebrate diversity metrics increased along the gradient of artificial substrate complexity, although these differences were not statistically significant. We conclude that habitat management practices that increase habitat complexity are likely to enhance macroinvertebrate community heterogeneity within artificial drainage channels regardless of previous management activities.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04416-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Keywords Artificial waterbody Drainage and irrigation channel Invertebrate Species richness Artificial substrates Community composition
Abstract Artificial drainage ditches are common features in lowland agricultural catchments that support a wide range of ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Current paradigms in river management suggest activities that increase habitat heterogeneity and complexity resulting in more diverse floral and faunal assemblages; however, it is not known if the same principles apply to artificial drainage ditch systems. We examined the effects of four artificial substrates, representing increasing habitat complexity and heterogeneity (bricks, gravel, netting and vegetation), on macroinvertebrate community structure
K. J. Gething M. C. Ripley P. J. Wood (&) Geography and Environment, Centre for Hydrological and Ecosystem Science, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK e-mail: [email protected] K. L. Mathers Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Department of Surface Waters Research and Management, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland R. P. Chadd Environment Agency of England, Stepping Stone Walk, Winfrey Avenue, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE11 1DA, UK
Introduction Freshwater habitats are globally important reservoirs of biodiversity, supporting 140,000 known species and delivering a wide range of ecosystem services from the provision of water through nutrient cycling and storage (Brooks et al., 2016; IUCN, 2016; Reid et al., 2019). As a result, the management and conservation of freshwater systems has received
123
Hydrobiologia
increasing attention over the past two deca
Data Loading...
