5/19/2015  |   13:30 - 13:45   |  102B

USING THERMAL TOLERANCE TRAITS TO PREDICT THE RESPONSE OF AQUATIC INSECTS TO WARMING: IS THERE GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION? Geographic variation in temperature acts as an ecological filter shaping species membership within communities, and as an evolutionary selection pressure shaping adaptive differences among populations and species. Thus, predicting how populations, species, and communities will respond to warming requires an understanding of the geographic variation in thermal tolerance traits. Tropical environments, characterized by stable climatic regimes, are thought to favor the evolution of narrow thermal tolerances. Conversely, temperate environments with variable thermal regimes should favor broader tolerance. Yet, few studies have examined variation in thermal tolerance patterns between temperate and tropical aquatic systems. We compared phylogenetically related dominant aquatic insect taxa collected from low-to-high-elevation freshwater streams in the Ecuadorian Andes and Colorado Rockies. Thermal tolerance was measured as critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and metabolic rate as a function of temperature (MRT). Our results to date, suggest low elevation and temperate taxa are more tolerant of warmer temperatures compared to their high elevation and tropical counterparts. These results also suggest that the response to warming is likely to vary across elevation and latitude.

Alisha Shah (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Montana, alishas0624@gmail.com;


Cameron Ghalambor (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, cameron.ghalambor@colostate.edu;

5/19/2015  |   13:45 - 14:00   |  102B

SPECIES TRAITS COMPOSITION AND VARIABILITY INDICATE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND CHANGE IN ALPINE RUNNING WATERS Alpine river ecosystems above the treeline are generally fed by glacial icemelt, snowmelt, and groundwater and share common features (e.g. steep gradients, high flow velocities and dynamics). Organisms well adapted to harsh environmental conditions contribute to a unique biodiversity, including endemic and threatened species. We tested the hypotheses that glaciation in the catchment is a major factor for defining the hydromorphological conditions, and the degree of harshness influencing taxa richness and diversity of the aquatic fauna. When we applied a set of species traits, indicating strategies and adaptations of resilience and resistance as well as to face environmental harshness, species trait composition and variability followed a predictable pattern. As alpine river ecosystems are under major pressure from climate change, altered hydrology with retreating glaciers and shrinking snow cover, carry for different environmental conditions but also biological and ecological abilities and traits within the aquatic communities. Species traits analyses are therefore well suited for the forecast of specific patterns and relationships between diversity and ecosystem function in climate change research.

Leopold Füreder (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Innsbruck, Austria, leopold.fuereder@uibk.ac.at;

5/19/2015  |   14:00 - 14:15   |  102B

MEASURING ELEVATION RANGE SIZES TO TEST THE CLIMATE VARIABILITY HYPOTHESIS AND ASSESS LATITUDINAL DIFFERENCES IN SPECIES VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE To understand species vulnerability, researchers are characterizing species sensitivity using trait-based approaches. Phylogenetic comparative analyses analyze trait data on phylogenies to understand trait diversity. We designed a test of the Climate Variability Hypothesis (CVH) to explore potential differences in species’ sensitivities resulting from differences in species’ evolutionary histories. The CVH predicts that temperate species will be broadly adapted to the variable thermal conditions of high latitudes, whereas tropical species will be narrowly adapted to the relatively stable thermal condition of low latitudes. Consequently, temperate species should be more broadly distributed geographically than tropical species. Along elevation gradients, temperate species should spread broadly, whereas tropical species should be narrowly distributed. We collected aquatic insects from streams in 200 m elevation intervals along transects spanning nearly 2000 m in the Colorado Rockies and the Ecuadorian Andes. Taxa were identified using an integrative approach. We estimated a phylogeny for these species and tested for an association between latitude and the trait elevation range breath using phylogenetic regression. Our results suggest that tropical species are more sensitive than temperate species to global warming.

Brian Gill (Primary Presenter/Author), School of Natural Resources and the Environment, The University of Arizona, briangill@email.arizona.edu;


Boris Kondratieff (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, boris.kondratieff@colostate.edu;


Andrea C. Encalada (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Instituto BIOSFERA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbayá, Ecuador Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbaya, Ecuador, aencalada@usfq.edu.ec;


Cameron Ghalambor (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, cameron.ghalambor@colostate.edu;


Mark Simmons (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, psimmons@rams.colostate.edu;


W. Chris Funk (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, chris.funk@colostate.edu;


LeRoy Poff (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, n.poff@rams.colostate.edu;

5/19/2015  |   14:15 - 14:30   |  102B

INSECT DIET AND STOICHIOMETRY ALONG A TROPICAL ELEVATION GRADIENT Food resource availability varies along the river continuum, but can also vary along gradients of elevation and temperature. In alpine ecosystems, streams can originate above or below tree line, thus influencing the relative availability of allochthonous and autochthonous resources. We sampled thirteen streams of similar size (e.g. discharge, width) along an elevation gradient in two basins in the Ecuadorian Andes. The stable isotope signature (?13C, ?15N, ?D) and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus composition of basal food resources (periphyton, and coarse particulate organic matter) and insects varied with elevation. We found that algal-based food resources primarily supported insects occurring at higher elevations with a shift to greater allochthony at lower elevations, corresponding with lower light availability at low elevation sites. Additionally, % phosphorus of both food resources and insects declined over the gradient, indicating that resources at high elevations were overall lower in quality. Nevertheless, insects may be able to compensate for this low quality food due to both altered body stoichiometry and the higher quality and quantity of the algal-based foods in comparison to detrital-based foods at high elevations.

Carla L. Atkinson (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Alabama, carlalatkinson@gmail.com;


Andrea C. Encalada (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Instituto BIOSFERA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbayá, Ecuador Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbaya, Ecuador, aencalada@usfq.edu.ec;


Alexander Flecker (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, asf3@cornell.edu;


Steven Thomas (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Alabama, sathomas16@ua.edu;

5/19/2015  |   14:30 - 14:45   |  102B

DISPERSAL CAPACITY AND BROAD-SCALE LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE SHAPE BENTHIC INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES ALONG STREAM NETWORKS For river benthic invertebrates it remains unclear how dispersal as a key trait influences species´ distribution patterns and meta-community structure. Based on 1,466 benthic invertebrate samples across Germany we compared dispersal capacity and community dissimilarity between headwaters and mainstems for highland and lowland streams, respectively. Dispersal capacity of benthic invertebrates varied greatly along the stream networks and increased with stream size in both highland and lowland streams. Increasing dispersal capacity from headwaters to mainstems leading to homogenization of communities in highland but not in lowland areas suggests that both dispersal capacity and landscape structure interact to determine community structure in these networks. We interpret these results as indicating a potential species sorting (SS) to mass effect (ME) transition in networks with a gradient in connectivity, but in highly connected environments, these transitions do not occur. Our results therefore stress the importance of considering dispersal traits and landscape features, as well as habitat control to better understand the (meta-)community structure across various landscape types.

Fengqing Li (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, qflee3@gmail.com;


Jonothan Tonkin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, jonathan.tonkin@senckenberg.de;


Peter Haase (Primary Presenter/Author), Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, peter.haase@senckenberg.de;

5/19/2015  |   14:45 - 15:00   |  102B

BEYOND SPECIES – APPLYING AN ECOSYSTEM TRAIT APPROACH IN BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH AND FRESHWATER CONSERVATION An ecosystem is a complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space. Ecosystems are connected by spatial flows of energy, material, and organisms, which are important drivers of biodiversity. However, the diversity of ecosystems, i.e. their composition, configuration, and connectivity, is frequently overlooked in biodiversity research and freshwater conservation. This is particularly critical because many restoration projects fail, or do not achieve their goals, because the spatial context of ecosystems is not sufficiently considered. Here, we introduce the concept of ecosystem traits to link inherent properties of ecosystems to species, functional, and genetic diversity at local and regional scales. Ecosystem traits refer to the structural and functional properties of ecosystems. This trait-based approach can be applied to various scales, from an individual habitat to metaecosystems and to entire landscapes. Conceptual and empirical examples will outline the potential applications of ecosystem traits in biodiversity research and freshwater conservation.

Michael Gerisch (Primary Presenter/Author), Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany, michael.gerisch@ufz.de;


Christian Feld (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Faculty of Biology Aquatic Ecology Universitätsstrasse 5 D-45141 Essen Germany, christian.feld@uni-due.de;


Daniel Hering (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology Aquatic Ecology Universitätsstrasse 5 D-45141 Essen Germany, daniel.hering@uni-due.de;


Sonja C. Jähnig (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, sonja.jaehnig@igb-berlin.de;


Klement Tockner (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, & Department of BioSciences, Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany, klement.tockner@senckenberg.de;