TY - JOUR

T1 - The relationships between biotic uniqueness and abiotic uniqueness are context dependent across drainage basins worldwide

AU - Snåre, Henna

AU - García-Girón, Jorge

AU - Alahuhta, Janne

AU - Bini, Luis Mauricio

AU - Boda, Pál

AU - Bonada, Núria

AU - Brasil, Leandro S.

AU - Callisto, Marcos

AU - Castro, Diego M.P.

AU - Chen, Kai

AU - Csabai, Zoltán

AU - Datry, Thibault

AU - Domisch, Sami

AU - García-Marquez, Jaime R.

AU - Floury, Mathieu

AU - Friberg, Nikolai

AU - Gill, Brian A.

AU - González-Trujillo, Juan David

AU - Göthe, Emma

AU - Haase, Peter

AU - Hamada, Neusa

AU - Hill, Matthew J.

AU - Hjort, Jan

AU - Juen, Leandro

AU - Jupke, Jonathan F.

AU - de Faria, Ana Paula Justino

AU - Li, Zhengfei

AU - Ligeiro, Raphael

AU - Linares, Marden S.

AU - Luiza-Andrade, Ana

AU - Macedo, Diego R.

AU - Mathers, Kate L.

AU - Mellado-Diaz, Andres

AU - Milosevic, Djuradj

AU - Moya, Nabor

AU - Poff, N. Le Roy

AU - Rolls, Robert J.

AU - Roque, Fabio O.

AU - Saito, Victor S.

AU - Sandin, Leonard

AU - Schäfer, Ralf B.

AU - Scotti, Alberto

AU - Siqueira, Tadeu

AU - Martins, Renato Tavares

AU - Valente-Neto, Francisco

AU - Wang, Beixin

AU - Wang, Jun

AU - Xie, Zhicai

AU - Heino, Jani

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Context: Global change, including land-use change and habitat degradation, has led to a decline in biodiversity, more so in freshwater than in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the research on freshwaters lags behind terrestrial and marine studies, highlighting the need for innovative approaches to comprehend freshwater biodiversity. Objectives: We investigated patterns in the relationships between biotic uniqueness and abiotic environmental uniqueness in drainage basins worldwide. Methods: We compiled high-quality data on aquatic insects (mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies at genus-level) from 42 drainage basins spanning four continents. Within each basin we calculated biotic uniqueness (local contribution to beta diversity, LCBD) of aquatic insect assemblages, and four types of abiotic uniqueness (local contribution to environmental heterogeneity, LCEH), categorized into upstream land cover, chemical soil properties, stream site landscape position, and climate. A mixed-effects meta-regression was performed across basins to examine variations in the strength of the LCBD-LCEH relationship in terms of latitude, human footprint, and major continental regions (the Americas versus Eurasia). Results: On average, relationships between LCBD and LCEH were weak. However, the strength and direction of the relationship varied among the drainage basins. Latitude, human footprint index, or continental location did not explain significant variation in the strength of the LCBD-LCEH relationship. Conclusions: We detected strong context dependence in the LCBD-LCEH relationship across the drainage basins. Varying environmental conditions and gradient lengths across drainage basins, land-use change, historical contingencies, and stochastic factors may explain these findings. This context dependence underscores the need for basin-specific management practices to protect the biodiversity of riverine systems.

AB - Context: Global change, including land-use change and habitat degradation, has led to a decline in biodiversity, more so in freshwater than in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the research on freshwaters lags behind terrestrial and marine studies, highlighting the need for innovative approaches to comprehend freshwater biodiversity. Objectives: We investigated patterns in the relationships between biotic uniqueness and abiotic environmental uniqueness in drainage basins worldwide. Methods: We compiled high-quality data on aquatic insects (mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies at genus-level) from 42 drainage basins spanning four continents. Within each basin we calculated biotic uniqueness (local contribution to beta diversity, LCBD) of aquatic insect assemblages, and four types of abiotic uniqueness (local contribution to environmental heterogeneity, LCEH), categorized into upstream land cover, chemical soil properties, stream site landscape position, and climate. A mixed-effects meta-regression was performed across basins to examine variations in the strength of the LCBD-LCEH relationship in terms of latitude, human footprint, and major continental regions (the Americas versus Eurasia). Results: On average, relationships between LCBD and LCEH were weak. However, the strength and direction of the relationship varied among the drainage basins. Latitude, human footprint index, or continental location did not explain significant variation in the strength of the LCBD-LCEH relationship. Conclusions: We detected strong context dependence in the LCBD-LCEH relationship across the drainage basins. Varying environmental conditions and gradient lengths across drainage basins, land-use change, historical contingencies, and stochastic factors may explain these findings. This context dependence underscores the need for basin-specific management practices to protect the biodiversity of riverine systems.

KW - Aquatic insects

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Context dependence

KW - Ecological uniqueness

KW - Environmental uniqueness

KW - Freshwaters

KW - Streams

U2 - 10.1007/s10980-024-01883-3

DO - 10.1007/s10980-024-01883-3

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85189772580

VL - 39

JO - Landscape Ecology

JF - Landscape Ecology

SN - 0921-2973

IS - 4

M1 - 86

ER -