NDLI: The contribution of lateral aquatic habitats to insect diversity along river corridors in the Alps

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Karaus, Ute Larsen, Stefa Guillong, Helene Tockner, Klement
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	River floodplains are among the most threatened ecosystems globally. Understanding the mechanisms that create and maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of floodplains, is therefore a prerequisite for developing scientifically-sound management and conservation strategies. We quantified the spatial distribution of lateral aquatic habitats (i.e. tributaries, ponds, backwaters) and the associated insect assemblages (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) along three Alpine river corridors (Tagliamento, Thur, and Rhône). Our objective was to assess the relative contribution of lateral habitats to river corridor diversity, and to identify the scale that contributed the most to regional (Alpine scale) species diversity. The number of lateral habitats decreased by 72 % from the near-natural Tagliamento (101) to the Thur river (42) and the regulated Rhône river (28). More than 50 % of the total species richness along each river was restricted to lateral habitats, which also exhibited higher taxon turnover rates (Whittaker’s beta diversity) than the associated main channel. Hierarchical diversity partitioning revealed that beta diversity among corridors was higher than expected, and accounted for 48 % of regional richness, partly reflecting biogeographical differences among catchments. However, diversity partitioning, excluding catchment-specific effects, showed that beta diversity among habitat types contributed significantly to regional richness (79 %). The present study is among the first to quantify the distribution and biodiversity of floodplain habitats along entire river continua. Our results demonstrated that biodiversity would be best preserved by protecting multiple catchments, and that lateral floodplain habitats contribute disproportionally to species richness at the river corridor and regional scale.
Starting Page	1755
Ending Page	1767
Page Count	13
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09212973
Journal	Landscape Ecology
Volume Number	28
Issue Number	9
e-ISSN	15729761
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2013-07-24
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Beta-diversity Conservation Diversity partitioning EPT taxa Floodplains Spatial scales Floodplain Biodiversity Landscape Ecology Plant Ecology Forestry Management Forestry Ecology Plant Sciences
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Geography, Planning and Development Ecology Nature and Landscape Conservation

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