Species dispersal along rivers and streams may have variable importance to metapopulation structure
Autor: | Ming-Chih Chiu, Qinghua Cai, Fengzhi He, Vincent H. Resh, Sicheng Ao |
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Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
China
Environmental Engineering 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Fluvial Metapopulation Context (language use) STREAMS 010501 environmental sciences Models Biological 01 natural sciences Mayfly Rivers Animals Environmental Chemistry Waste Management and Disposal Ecosystem Ephemeroptera 0105 earth and related environmental sciences geography geography.geographical_feature_category biology Ecology biology.organism_classification Pollution Habitat Biological dispersal Mountain range |
Zdroj: | Science of The Total Environment. 760:144045 |
ISSN: | 0048-9697 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144045 |
Popis: | The ability to prioritize habitats that have spatially varied contributions to species persistence can produce synergistic benefits for regional conservation efforts. However, conservation in spatially diverse landscape-networks requires considering dispersal asymmetry in the context of ecological connectivity and metapopulation persistence. By developing an approach based on metapopulation theory, this study prioritized the importance of habitat (as determined by the habitat quality and spatial position in networks) on metapopulation structure in mountainous streams. As a case study, we examined dispersal via overland and instream networks in a riverine mayfly Rhithrogena sp. cf. japonica in a mountain range of Southwest China. Compared to flow velocity, water depth, and instream nutrient-levels, water temperature was a key factor in determining local habitat suitability for R. sp. cf. japonica. Higher water temperature was linked to poor habitat suitability. Instream pathways were the main dispersal corridors compared with overland movement between tributaries for this mayfly. In basins on the east aspect of this mountain range, either monotonically increasing (i.e., never decreasing) or unimodal (i.e., with a single peak) patterns demonstrated the importance of riverine habitats that occur along elevational gradients. However, the importance of habitat appeared to show no definite patterns with elevation on the west aspect. In terms of metapopulation structure, local quality of habitat contributed more to the regional importance of habitat than its spatial position in the networks. The framework presented highlights that the importance of riverine habitats may be quite variable in species having directional dispersal networks across the fluvial landscape in mountainous areas. Results from this framework can serve as the basis to apply a mechanistic understanding to managing and protecting native populations through regional restoration actions. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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