A precipitation gradient drives change in macroinvertebrate composition and interactions within bromeliads

PLoS One. 2018 Nov 28;13(11):e0200179. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200179. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Ecological communities change across spatial and environmental gradients due to (i) changes in species composition, (ii) changes in the frequency or strength of interactions or (iii) changes in the presence of the interactions. Here we use the communities of aquatic invertebrates inhabiting clusters of bromeliad phytotelms along the Brazilian coast as a model system for examining variation in multi-trophic communities. We first document the variation in the species pools of sites across a geographical climate gradient. Using the same sites, we also explored the geographic variation in species interaction strength using a Markov network approach. We found that community composition differed along a gradient of water volume within bromeliads due to the spatial turnover of some species. From the Markov network analysis, we found that the interactions of certain predators differed due to differences in bromeliad water volume. Overall, this study illustrates how a multi-trophic community can change across an environmental gradient through changes in both species and their interactions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aquatic Organisms / physiology
  • Biodiversity
  • Brazil
  • Bromeliaceae / physiology*
  • Climate
  • Ecosystem*
  • Food Chain*
  • Invertebrates / physiology*
  • Markov Chains
  • Oceans and Seas
  • Predatory Behavior

Grants and funding

This work was partially funded by CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (http://cnpq.br) through PVE grants (Process 400454/2014-9 to V.F.F.) and the Mitacs (http://www.mitacs.ca/en) Globalink scholarships (F15-00162). L.M.G. is supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada - NSERC (http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca) CGS-D (#6564) and University of British Columbia Four Year Fellowships (#6569), (https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/four-year-doctoral-fellowship-4yf). D.S.S is supported by NSERC Discovery Grants. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.