Use of biological traits for interpreting functional relationships in large rivers

AbstractAltogether 64 predominantly biological traits were coded for more than 600 macroinvertebrate species from European rivers. The main question was: Are biological traits able to reflect “biological functionality” in large rivers and if so, is it possible to deduce an assessment system based on functionality? Analysis of the raw trait structure of all species indicates that these traits are not completely independent from their higher systematic units. To avoid mis-interpretations when judging from mixtures of habitats (β-biocoenosis) we used for our investigations only sample series from α-biocoenosis, pre-tested by a mathematical criterion of homogeneity. Within α-biocoenosis, traits are shown to be able to compensate for drastic changes with respect to species number and species composition along a river continuum, demonstrating their functional quality. Long-term changes in the trait and species structures of German waterways were studied using multivariate methods, based on an analysis of 142 sampling series. A shift from traits typical for K-strategists to traits typical for r-strategists was detected to be the main background variable. The rK-strategy is regarded as a true functional character of species. We calculated the relative positions of all trait-coded species on this rK-scale, and plotted the functional diversity of our samples against the structural diversity of the species from several river systems. Rivers extremely dominated by r-strategists show a deficit in functional diversity. Rivers dominated by K-strategists also show deficits, possibly in concordance with modern ecological theories such as the intermediate disturbance theory. The quantitative proportions of extreme r- to K-Strategists in α-biocoenosis can be used as a general disturbance measure