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Niche breadth of invertebrate shredders in tropical forest streams: which taxa have restricted habitat preferences?

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Abstract

Despite the importance of shredders in organic matter processing in streams, information about the habitat specificities of different taxa is scarce. Herein, we evaluated the habitat preferences of invertebrate shredders in tropical forest streams. A total of 72 leaf patches were sampled in three Atlantic Forest streams (SE Brazil). For each sample, 20 environmental variables were measured, including water properties and characteristics of the leaf patch. We used an Outlying Mean Index analysis to evaluate the niche breadth and overlap of each taxon found as well as habitat preferences. In total, we found 14 shredder taxa in 68 leaf patches, and the gradient of environmental conditions influenced the distribution of most taxa. Considering taxa that occurred in atypical habitats in the study sites, Blaberidae (semiaquatic cockroaches) and Trichodactylus fluviatilis (Decapoda) showed niche segregation, while Macrobrachium potiuna (Decapoda), Tupiperla (Plecoptera), and Nectopsyche (Trichoptera) showed niche overlap. On the other hand, Heterelmis (Coleoptera), Stenochironomus (Diptera), Phylloicus major, and Triplectides gracilis (Trichoptera) occurred in typical habitats. These results showed that shredder taxa had different habitat preferences. The observed differences in niche breadths and habitat specificities among taxa probably result in different leaf processing rates across leaf patches in Atlantic Forest streams.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Adolfo Calor for the identification of Triplectides and Phylloicus species and to Cecília Waichert, Pedro Diniz, and two anonymous reviewers for their contributions on an earlier version of this manuscript. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. The Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (FAPES) provided K.S. with a Master´s fellowship (T.O. # 0518/2016) and M.M. with a research fellowship (T.O. # 0264/2016).

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  1. Laboratory of Aquatic Insect Ecology, Universidade Vila Velha, Av. Comissário José Dantas de Melo 21, Vila Velha, ES, 29.102-920, Brazil

    Karoline Victor Serpa, Walace Pandolpho Kiffer Jr., Miliane Fardim Borelli, Marcos Antônio Ferraz & Marcelo S. Moretti

  2. Graduate Program in Ecosystem Ecology, Universidade Vila Velha, Vila Velha, ES, Brazil

    Karoline Victor Serpa, Walace Pandolpho Kiffer Jr., Miliane Fardim Borelli & Marcelo S. Moretti

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Serpa, K.V., Kiffer, W.P., Borelli, M.F. et al. Niche breadth of invertebrate shredders in tropical forest streams: which taxa have restricted habitat preferences?. Hydrobiologia 847, 1739–1752 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-019-04149-1

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