Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T21:32:21.082Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diets of leaf litter-associated invertebrates in three tropical streams

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2012

Ana M. Chará-Serna ,
Julián D. Chará ,
María del Carmen Zúñiga ,
Richard G. Pearson  and
Luz Boyero
Ana M. Chará-Serna*
Affiliation:
Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria, CIPAV, Carrera 25 No. 6-62, Cali, Colombia Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigaciones Entomológicas, Universidad del Valle, Apartado Aéreo 25360, Cali, Colombia
Julián D. Chará
Affiliation:
Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria, CIPAV, Carrera 25 No. 6-62, Cali, Colombia Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en Biodiversidad y Recursos Genéticos, CIEBREG, P.O.B. 97, Pereira, Colombia
María del Carmen Zúñiga
Affiliation:
Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria, CIPAV, Carrera 25 No. 6-62, Cali, Colombia Departamento de Biología, Grupo de Investigaciones Entomológicas, Universidad del Valle, Apartado Aéreo 25360, Cali, Colombia
Richard G. Pearson
Affiliation:
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Luz Boyero
Affiliation:
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia Wetland Ecology Department, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Avda Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
*
*Corresponding author: ana@cipav.org.co
Get access

Abstract

Shredders play a major ecological role in temperate streams, but their numerical importance is highly variable within the tropics. Detailed studies on the diets of tropical stream invertebrates are advisable to be able to better describe and understand this variation. Here, we examined the diets of invertebrates collected from the leaf litter of three tropical streams in Colombia, using gut content analysis. Fine and coarse particulate organic matter were the main food resources for invertebrates, which could be divided into four main dietary groups: predators, shredders, specialist collectors and generalist collectors. While the specialist collectors were the most numerically abundant group (54%), shredder biomass accounted for 63% of total invertebrate biomass, suggesting that shredders play a significant ecological role in the study streams. We describe the diets of 12 out of 47 taxa that were previously unknown, which indicates that knowledge about the feeding ecology of tropical stream invertebrates is still incipient.

Keywords

Aquatic invertebratesgut contentsshreddersdietary groupstrophic guilds
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , 2012 , pp. 139 - 144
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allan, J.D., 1995. Stream Ecology: Structure and Function of Running Waters, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basaguren, A., Riaño, P. and Pozo, J., 2002. Life history patterns and dietary changes of several caddisfly (Trichoptera) species in a nortern Spain stream. Arch. Hydrobiol., 155, 23–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyero, L., Ramirez, A., Dudgeon, D. and Pearson, R.G., 2009. Are tropical streams really different? J. North Am. Benth. Soc., 28, 397–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyero, L., Pearson, R.G., Dudgeon, D., Graça, M.A.S., Gessner, M.O., Albariño, R.J., Ferreira, V., Yule, C.M., Boulton, A.J., Arunachalam, M., Callisto, M., Chauvet, E., Ramírez, A., Chará, J., Moretti, M.S., Gonçalves, J.F. Jr., Helson, J.E., Chará-Serna, A.M., Encalada, A.C., Davies, J.N., Lamothe, S., Cornejo, A., Castela, J., Li, A.O.Y., Buria, L.M., Villanueva, V.D., Zúñiga, M.C. and Pringle, C.M., 2011a. Global distribution of a key trophic guild contrasts with common latitudinal diversity patterns. Ecology, 92, 9, 1839–1848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyero, L., Pearson, R.G., Dudgeon, D., Ferreira, V., Graça, M.A.S., Gessner, M.O., Boulton, A.J., Chauvet, E., Yule, C.M., Albariño, R.J., Ramírez, A., Helson, J.E., Callisto, M., Arunachalam, M., Chará, J., Figueroa, R., Mathooko, J.M., Gonçalves, J.F. Jr., Moretti, M.S., Chará-Serna, A.M., Davies, J.N., Encalada, A.C., Lamothe, S., Buria, L.M., Castela, J., Cornejo, A., Li, A.O.Y., M'Erimba, C., Villanueva, V.D., Zúñiga, M.C., Swan, C.M. and Barmuta, L.A., 2011b. Global patterns of stream detritivore distribution: implications for biodiversity loss in changing climates. Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 21, 134–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyero, L., Pearson, R.G., Gessner, M.O., Barmuta, L.A., Ferreira, V., Graça, M.A.S., Dudgeon, D., Boulton, A.J., Callisto, M., Chauvet, E., Helson, J.E., Bruder, A., Albariño, R.J., Yule, C.M., Arunachalam, M., Davies, J.N., Figueroa, R., Flecker, A.S., Ramírez, A., Death, R.G., Iwata, T., Mathooko, J.M., Mathuriau, C., Gonçalves, J.F. Jr., Moretti, M.S., Jinggut, T., Lamothe, S., M'Erimba, C., Ratnarajah, L., Schindler, M.H., Castela, J., Buria, L.M., Cornejo, A., Villanueva, V.D. and West, D.C., 2011c. A global experiment suggests climate warming will not accelerate litter decomposition in streams but might reduce carbon sequestration. Ecol. Lett., 14, 289–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camacho, R., Boyero, L., Cornejo, A., Ibáñez, A. and Pearson, R.G., 2009. Local variation in shredder numbers can explain their oversight in tropical streams. Biotropica, 41, 625–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chará, J.D., Baird, D., Telfer, T. and Giraldo, L.P., 2007. A comparative study of leaf breakdown of three native tree species in a slowly-flowing headwater stream in the Colombian Andes. Int. Rev. Hydrobiol., 92, 183–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheshire, K., Boyero, L. and Pearson, R.G., 2005. Food webs in tropical Australian streams: shredders are not scarce. Freshwater Biol., 50, 748–769.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, N. and Suberkropp, K., 2009. Contribution of fungal biomass to the growth of the shredder, Pycnopsyche gentilis (Trichoptera: Limniphilidae). Freshwater Biol., 54, 2212–2229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, K.W., 1974. Structure and function of stream ecosystems. BioScience, 24, 631–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobson, M., Magana, A., Mathooko, J.M. and Ndegwa, F.K., 2002. Detritivores in Kenyan highland streams: more evidence for the paucity of shredders in the tropics? Freshwater Biol., 47, 909–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonçalves, J.F. Jr., Graça, M.A.S. and Callisto, M., 2007. Litter decomposition in a Cerrado savannah stream is retarded by leaf toughness, low dissolved nutrients and a low density of shredders. Freshwater Biol., 52, 1440–1451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heard, S.B. and Richardson, J.S., 1995. Shredder-collector facilitation in stream detrital food webs: is there enough evidence. Oikos, 72, 359–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mantel, S.K., Salas, M. and Dudgeon, D., 2004. Foodweb structure in a tropical Asian forest stream. J. North Am. Benth. Soc., 23, 728–755.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merritt, R.W. and Cummins, K.W., 1996. An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America, Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, 862 p.Google Scholar
Motta, R.L. and Uieda, V.S., 2004. Diet and trophic groups of an aquatic insect community in a tropical stream. Braz. J. Biol., 64, 809–817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, C., O'Keeffe, J., Palmer, A., Dunne, T. and Radloff, S., 1993. Macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups in the middle and lower reaches of the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape, South Africa. I. Dietary variability. Freshwater Biol., 29, 441–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ríos-Touma, B., Encalada, A. and Prat-Fornells, N., 2009. Leaf litter dynamics and its use by invertebrates in a high-altitude tropical Andean stream. Int. Rev. Hydrobiol., 94, 357–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rueda-Delgado, G., Wantzen, K.W. and Tolosa, M.B., 2006. Leaf-Litter decomposition in an Amazonian floodplain stream: effects of seasonal hydrological changes. J. North Am. Benth. Soc., 25, 233–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomanova, S., Goitia, E. and Helešic, J., 2006. Trophic levels and functional feeding groups of macroinvertebrates in neotropical streams. Hydrobiologia, 556, 251–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, J.B., Eggert, S.L., Meyer, J.L. and Webster, J.R., 1997. Multiple trophic levels of a forest stream linked to terrestrial litter inputs. Science, 277, 102–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wantzen, K.M. and Wagner, R., 2006. Detritus processing by invertebrate shredders: a neotropical-temperate comparison. J. North Am. Benth. Soc., 25, 216–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, J.R. and Benfield, E.F., 1986. Vascular plant breakdown in freshwater ecosystems. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 17, 567–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, M.S. and Covich, A.P., 2005. The effect of macroinvertebrate exclusion on leaf breakdown rates in a tropical headwater stream. Biotropica, 37, 403–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, C.M., Boyero, L. and Marchant, R., 2010. Effects of sediment pollution on food webs in a tropical river (Borneo, Indonesia). Mar. Freshwater Res., 61, 204–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, C.M., Leong, M.Y., Liew, K.C., Ratnarajah, L., Schmidt, K., Wong, H.M., Pearson, R.G. and Boyero, L., 2009. Shredders in Malaysia: abundance and species richness are higher in highland, temperate-like, tropical streams. J. North Am. Benth. Soc., 28, 404–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

OLM - limn110051 - 48(2) 2012 p.139- Diets of leaf litter-associated...

Appendix 1

Download OLM - limn110051 - 48(2) 2012 p.139- Diets of leaf litter-associated...(PDF)
PDF 42.8 KB