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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 16113

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Philippe Usseglio-Polatera

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Guest Editor

LIEC, Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Continental Environments, University of Lorraine, 57070 Metz, France
Interests: community ecology; functional ecology; bioassessment; biological traits; multi-stressors; multi-scale approaches; rivers; macroinvertebrates; eDNA

Dr. Olivier Dézerald

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Guest Editor

ESE, Ecology and Ecosystems Health, INRAE, Agrocampus Ouest, 35042 Rennes, France
Interests: community ecology; functional ecology; food webs; population dynamics; aquatic and terrestrial macroinvertebrates; fish species; spatial–temporal heterogeneity; stoichiometry; isotopy

Dr. Benjamin Alric

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux, Université de Lorraine, 57070 Metz, France
Interests: community ecology; quantitative ecology; functional ecology; paleoecology; ecotoxicology; food webs; metabarcoding; spatial–temporal scales; aquatic ecosystems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Freshwater communities are impacted by multiple stressors that can act and interact across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Dissecting the complexity of these stressor–response relationships is of utmost importance in order to implement suitable and sustainable management actions. Although many researchers have sought to find general patterns in these biological responses, increasing evidence indicates that communities significantly differ in the magnitude, rate, and direction of their responses. In this sense, integrating this strong ecological contingency adds further fundamental and applied challenges to address the complexity of stressor(s)–community response(s)–management relationships. This Special Issue aims to present synthetic approaches to tackle this complexity and help decision-makers manage freshwater ecosystems and the ecological services they support. In this framework, we welcome all fundamental and applied studies at the community level, including empirical observations, controlled experiments, taxonomic- (including eDNA approaches), trait-, function-, and/or omics-based approaches, integrated diagnostic tool development, original reviews, and the discussion of opinions.

Prof. Philippe Usseglio-Polatera
Dr. Olivier Dézerald
Dr. Benjamin Alric
Guest Editors

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Keywords

community ecology
multiple pressures
pressure interactions
biotic interactions
spatial and temporal heterogeneity
ecological diagnostics
empirical and experimental approaches
modeling approaches
holobiotic and amphibiotic species

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 2146 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Relationships between Physico-Chemical Parameters and Taxonomic Structure of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Streams of West Cameroon

by Joséphine Kengne Fotsing, Samuel Foto Menbohan, Albin Meyer, Alain Leprêtre and Philippe Usseglio-Polatera

Water 2022, 14(9), 1490; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091490 - 6 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3822

Abstract

Tropical rivers are strongly influenced by stormwaters, pollutants and agro-pastoral activities. These systems are no longer able to maintain their native biota. Therefore, it seems important to understand how biological assemblages are driven by environmental gradients at different spatial scales. However, information on the relationships between the distribution of aquatic macroinvertebrates and environmental variables remains scarce in Cameroon. To improve our knowledge on the drivers of such distributions, a study was carried out at 11 contrasted sites from three catchments located in West Cameroon. This study aimed at understanding the spatio-temporal variations of 19 taxonomic metrics calculated for the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages of these sites sampled during 13 months, concurrently with physico-chemical analyses of water quality. Two hundred and twelve taxa were caught. Diptera(rf-S), Shannon-Wiener diversity, 1–GOLD, total richness, Pielou evenness and Heteroptera(rf-S) revealed their high ability to respond to anthropogenic pressures or disturbances. Conductivity, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, total hardness and alkalinity were identified as the main physico-chemical drivers of the taxonomic structure of benthic assemblages. These results will allow further exploration of the implementation of a tool for monitoring the ecological quality of West Cameroon rivers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Community Responses to Stress)

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25 pages, 2300 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Linking Micropollutants to Trait Syndromes across Freshwater Diatom, Macroinvertebrate, and Fish Assemblages

by Albin Meyer, Benjamin Alric, Olivier Dézerald, Elise Billoir, Romain Coulaud, Floriane Larras, Cédric P. Mondy and Philippe Usseglio-Polatera

Water 2022, 14(8), 1184; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14081184 - 7 Apr 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2495

Abstract

The ecological quality of freshwater ecosystems is endangered by various micropollutants released into the environment by human activities. The cumulative effects of these micropollutants can affect the fitness of organisms and populations and the functional diversity of stream ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the relationships between the joint toxicity of micropollutants and trait syndromes. A trait syndrome corresponds to a combination of traits that could occur together in communities due to the trait selection driven by exposure to these micropollutants. Our objectives were to (i) identify trait syndromes specific to diatom, macroinvertebrate, and fish assemblages and their responses to exposure, taking into account four micropollutant types (mineral micropollutants, pesticides, PAHs, and other organic micropollutants) and nine modes of action (only for pesticides), (ii) explore how these syndromes vary within and among the three biological compartments, (iii) investigate the trait categories driving the responses of syndromes to micropollutant exposure, and (iv) identify specific taxa, so-called paragons, which are highly representative of these syndromes. To achieve these objectives, we analyzed a dataset including the biological and physico-chemical results of 2007 sampling events from a large-scale monitoring survey routinely performed in French wadeable streams. We have identified five (diatoms), eight (macroinvertebrates), and eight (fishes) trait syndromes, either positively or negatively related to an increasing toxicity gradient of different clusters of micropollutant types or modes of action. Our analyses identified several key trait categories and sets of paragons, exhibiting good potential for highlighting exposure by specific micropollutant types and modes of action. Overall, trait syndromes might represent a novel and integrative bioassessment tool, driven by the diversity of trait-based responses to increasing gradients of micropollutant toxic cocktails. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Community Responses to Stress)

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19 pages, 2202 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Evaluating Multiple Stressor Effects on Benthic–Pelagic Freshwater Communities in Systems of Different Complexities: Challenges in Upscaling

by Vinita Vijayaraj, Nora Kipferler, Herwig Stibor, Joey Allen, Franz Hölker, Martin Laviale, Joséphine Leflaive, Gregorio Alejandro López Moreira Mazacotte, Bastian Herbert Polst, Mechthild Schmitt-Jansen, Sabine Hilt and Elisabeth Maria Gross

Water 2022, 14(4), 581; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14040581 - 14 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3187

Abstract

Upscaling of ecological effects from indoor microcosms to outdoor mesocosms bridging the gap between controlled laboratory conditions and highly complex natural environments poses several challenges: typical standard water types used in laboratory experiments are not feasible in large outdoor experiments. Additionally, moving from the micro- to meso-scale, biodiversity is enhanced. We performed an indoor microcosm experiment to determine the effects of agricultural run-off (ARO) on a defined benthic–pelagic community comprising primary producers and primary consumers, exposed to ambient summer temperature and +3.5 °C. Treatments were replicated in two water types (standard Volvic and Munich well water). We then scaled up to outdoor mesocosms using an ARO concentration gradient and +3 °C warming above ambient temperature, using Munich well water. We included the same benthic macroorganisms but more complex periphyton and plankton communities. All the functional groups were affected by stressors in the microcosms, and a shift from macrophyte to phytoplankton dominance was observed. While effects were present, they were less pronounced in the mesocosms, where a higher biodiversity may have modified the responses of the system to the stressors. The stressor effects observed in controlled experiments may thus be masked in more complex outdoor experiments, but should not be interpreted as “no effects”. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Community Responses to Stress)

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17 pages, 2571 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Responses of Macroinvertebrate Communities to Hydromorphological Restoration of Headwater Streams in Brittany

by Gbenga E. Omoniyi, Christophe Piscart, Laura Pellan and Benjamin Bergerot

Water 2022, 14(4), 553; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14040553 - 12 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2558

Abstract

Indices of fauna communities, including macroinvertebrates, have been widely used as indicators of environmental changes in streams with great success. However, in the evaluations of in-stream restorations, results from the deployment of macroinvertebrate community indices as bio-indicators have been inconclusive, with scanty evidence for success. This study aims to determine if in headwater streams, and particularly according to the type of in-stream restoration studied (i.e., suppression of concrete pipe), bio-indicators based on macroinvertebrate can be relevant. We monitored three headwater stream reaches where artificial structures constituting hydromorphological impairments to the streams were removed. We collected macroinvertebrate samples from impacted stream sections and control sites established along the streams. Samples were collected before and after the restoration activities, in a before-after-control-impact (BACI) study design. We used two macroinvertebrate-based multimetric tools (I2M2 and ERA) to evaluate the ecological status of the streams, based on macroinvertebrate community indices, and to identify the relative contributions of watershed anthropic pressures to the ecological status. We found that the removal of the artificial structures and the restoration of natural flow were successful in reducing clogging. However, only taxonomic richness showed a positive significant change. The results indicate that the presence of confounding factors, not addressed by the restoration works, may have been responsible for this minimal success in biodiversity recovery. Although the multimetric assessment tools were able to differentiate between streams and disentangle the effects of multiple pressures contributing to degradation in the streams, they were limited to a level below the watershed scale. Our results showed that for a better outcome for macroinvertebrate biodiversity improvement, methods of in-stream restorations must consider the multiple pressures contributing to the degradation of fauna communities in watersheds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Community Responses to Stress)

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12 pages, 2222 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Critical Transitions in Lake Ecosystem State May Be Driven by Coupled Feedback Mechanisms: A Case Study from Lake Erhai, China

by Rong Wang, John A. Dearing and Peter G. Langdon

Water 2022, 14(1), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010085 - 3 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2747

Abstract

Critical transitions between ecosystem states can be triggered by relatively small external forces or internal perturbations and may show time-lagged or hysteretic recovery. Understanding the precise mechanisms of a transition is important for ecosystem management, but it is hampered by a lack of information about the preceding interactions and associated feedback between different components in an ecosystem. This paper employs a range of data, including paleolimnological, environmental monitoring and documentary sources from lake Erhai and its catchment, to investigate the ecosystem structure and dynamics across multiple trophic levels through the process of eutrophication. A long-term perspective shows the growth and decline of two distinct, but coupled, positive feedback loops: a macrophyte-loop and a phosphorus-recycling-loop. The macrophyte-loop became weaker, and the phosphorus-recycling-loop became stronger during the process of lake eutrophication, indicating that the critical transition was propelled by the interaction of two positive feedback loops with different strengths. For lake restoration, future weakening of the phosphorus-recycling loop or a reduction in external pressures is expected to trigger macrophyte growth and eventually produce clear water conditions, but the speed of recovery will probably depend on the rates of feedback loops and the strength of their coupling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Community Responses to Stress)

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