Journal ArticleDOI
Metacommunity structuring in Himalayan streams over large elevational gradients: the role of dispersal routes and niche characteristics
Jonathan D. Tonkin,Jonathan D. Tonkin,Ram Devi Tachamo Shah,Deep Narayan Shah,Felicitas Hoppeler,Sonja C. Jähnig,Steffen U. Pauls +6 more
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TLDR
In physically dominated systems, local environment was overridden by dispersal limitation, particularly when considering specialists, and the importance of elevation and the spatial arrangement of sites in structuring metacommunities is revealed.Abstract:
Aim
To examine metacommunity structuring in stream communities over large elevational gradients by disentangling physical and environmental structuring and the importance of different dispersal routes and niche characteristics.
Location
Headwater streams in three catchments in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya of central and eastern Nepal.
Methods
We explored metacommunity structuring of stream invertebrates (including deconstructed assemblages by niche position and breadth) using a combination of approaches, including the elements of metacommunity structure and distance–decay relationships. We compared the importance of dispersal routes, elevation and local environmental conditions through five distance matrices: Euclidean, topographic, river network, elevational and environmental.
Results
Communities were structured along the elevational gradient with clear turnover apparent in two catchments, with Clementsian (compartmentalized) and Gleasonian (individualistic) distributions. Local environment played a minor role, and the selected distance matrices (i.e. elevation, three physical distances and environment) varied between catchments and niche groups. Contrary to expectation, specialists were more spatially than environmentally controlled, potentially reflecting dispersal limitation.
Main conclusions
In these physically dominated systems, local environment was overridden by dispersal limitation, particularly when considering specialists. Where barriers were not limiting dispersal, niche sorting along the elevational gradients represented the key structuring force. Overall, our findings reveal the importance of elevation and the spatial arrangement of sites in structuring metacommunities. We emphasize the value of considering physical structuring and spatial extent in modulating species sorting in metacommunities.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The role of dispersal in river network metacommunities: Patterns, processes, and pathways
Jonathan D. Tonkin,Florian Altermatt,Florian Altermatt,Debra S. Finn,Jani Heino,Julian D. Olden,Steffen U. Pauls,David A. Lytle +7 more
TL;DR: A conceptual model is developed that predicts that the explanatory power of the river network peaks in mesic systems for obligate aquatic dispersers, and proposes directions of future avenues of research, including the use of manipulative field and laboratory experiments that test metacommunity theory in river networks.
Journal ArticleDOI
Does isolation influence the relative role of environmental and dispersal‐related processes in stream networks? An empirical test of the network position hypothesis using multiple taxa
Dénes Schmera,Diána Árva,Pál Boda,Erika Bódis,Ágnes Bolgovics,Gábor Borics,András Csercsa,Csaba Deák,Eszter Ágnes Krasznai,Balázs András Lukács,Péter Mauchart,Arnold Móra,Péter Sály,András Specziár,Kristóf Süveges,Ildikó Szivák,Péter Takács,Mónika Tóth,Gábor Várbíró,Anna E. Vojtkó,Tibor Erős +20 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the validity of the NPH for benthic diatoms, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates and fish in the Pannon Ecoregion, Hungary.
Journal ArticleDOI
Metapopulation stability in branching river networks
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors combine theory and analyses of a unique long-term dataset to show that a scale-invariant characteristic of fractal river networks, branching complexity (measured as branching probability), stabilizes watershed metapopulations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Assessing drivers of benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in African highland streams: An exploration using multivariate analysis.
Tatenda Dalu,Ryan J. Wasserman,Jonathan D. Tonkin,Mhairi E. Alexander,Mwazvita T.B. Dalu,Samuel N. Motitsoe,Kwanele I. Manungo,Onias Bepe,Timothy Dube +8 more
TL;DR: The findings of the study suggest that for certain ecological questions, a more detailed taxonomic resolution may be required to adequately understand the ecology of aquatic macroinvertebrates within river systems.
Journal ArticleDOI
A comprehensive examination of the network position hypothesis across multiple river metacommunities
Renato Henriques-Silva,Maxime Logez,Nathalie Reynaud,Pablo A. Tedesco,Sébastien Brosse,Stephanie R. Januchowski-Hartley,Thierry Oberdorff,Christine Argillier +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the network position hypothesis (NPH) on river dwelling fishes using an extensive dataset from 28 French catchments and concluded that the NPH is context dependent even for taxa dispersing exclusively within streams.
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David Bickford,David J. Lohman,Navjot S. Sodhi,Peter K. L. Ng,Rudolf Meier,Kevin Winker,Krista K. Ingram,Indraneil Das +7 more
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The ecodist Package for Dissimilarity-based Analysis of Ecological Data
Sarah C. Goslee,Dean L. Urban +1 more
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