Abstract
The replacement of native forests by pastures takes place widely in the Andes. The effects of such land-use change on aquatic assemblages are poorly understood. We conducted a comparative analysis of the effects of forest conversion to pastures on the taxonomic, structural, and functional composition of macroinvertebrates (benthic and leaf-associated) in montane and upper montane streams (ecosystem type) of the south Ecuadorian Andes. Taxonomic composition of benthic and leaf-associated macroinvertebrates was different between ecosystem type and land use. Also, major differences in the structural and functional composition of benthic and leaf-associated macroinvertebrates were mainly promoted by land use in both ecosystem types. Forested streams showed higher diversity than pasture streams, sustaining more shredder, scraper, and predatory invertebrates. We also observed differences in the macroinvertebrate communities between benthic and leaf-bag samples. Leaf bags had lower diversity and more collector invertebrates than benthic samples. This study highlights the large effect of riparian forest conversion to pasture land on macroinvertebrate communities, and the importance of using appropriate sampling techniques to characterize aquatic assemblages. We also recommend the maintenance and restoration of riparian vegetation to mitigate the effects of deforestation on stream communities and ecosystem processes.
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Acknowledgements
We sincerely appreciate the assistance in the field and the laboratory from Adrián Leiva, Sirkka Rausche (Mon streams) and Tamara Santacruz (UMon streams). We thank the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment for providing the research permits and to the Municipality of Loja and ETAPA EP for research facilities. This research was financially supported by a doctoral scholarship from the Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovavción of Ecuador (SENESCYT), by the PROMETEO Program of the SENESCYT, by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Grant No. FR615/28-1/-2 and BR2238/4-2, and by the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja. Data at UMon streams were collected within the framework of the project “Interpretación de los procesos hidroecológicos como base para la valoración del caudal ecológico en las cuencas del Paute y del Jubones” financed by the SENESCYT and the Universidad de Cuenca. We appreciate the assistance of Pedro Quintana-Ascencio with GLMM and the suggestions of two anonymous reviewers.
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CIA, HH and LB conceived and designed the experiments. CIA and HH performed the experiments. CIA analyzed the data. CIA, HH, LB wrote the manuscript.
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Iñiguez-Armijos, C., Hampel, H. & Breuer, L. Land-use effects on structural and functional composition of benthic and leaf-associated macroinvertebrates in four Andean streams. Aquat Ecol 52, 77–92 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-017-9646-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-017-9646-z