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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichop-
tera are three orders of freshwater macroinvertebrates
with a short terrestrial adult life-stage that they use
to disperse by flying upstream. This aerial dispersal
can be assisted by native riparian forest, but regional
variation has not yet been empirically tested. In
this study we compared the EPT community of 153
sampling sites located in freshwater streams in four
European regions (Central Plains, Central Highlands, Alps, Iberia). In each site, we assessed the EPT com-
munity dispersal ability using the Species Flying Pro-
pensity index. We also calculated the native decidu-
ous forest cover in the riparian buffer and several
environmental stressors such as saprobic pollution or
catchment anthropization. Finally, we tested which of
these parameters have a significant effect on the EPT
community. In the Central Highlands and in Iberia,
the share of weak dispersers increased with native
deciduous forest cover, indicating a positive effect on
dispersal of EPTs. In the Central Plains and the Alps,
no such effect was found. We conclude that the effect
of native deciduous forest depends on regional land-
scape characteristics and the regional species pool,
but considering the dispersal of the regional EPT
communities is needed to create effective river man-
agement policies.
Description
Keywords
Freshwater macroinvertebrates Dispersal corridor Mediterranean Alpine Temperate
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Peredo Arce, Andrés & Kail, Jochem & Tasser, Erich & Feio, Maria & Palt, Martin & Schletterer, Martin. (2023). The effect of riparian forest on landscape connectivity for the EPT community across European regions. Hydrobiologia. 10.1007/s10750-023-05353-w.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business