CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The relationships between biological traits of macroinvertebrates and environmental characteristics were investigated in thirteen peatbogs of Punean and High Andean ecoregions. We assembled the abundance of stream macroinvertebrate and defined eight biological traits (maximum size, body shape and flexibility, hardness of the exoskeleton, type of respiration, locomotion, feeding habits and specific adaptations to flow constraints). In each sampling point, altitude was recorded and different physical-chemical characteristics of water were recorded. We used an ordination technique, RLQ analysis, which links an environmental table (R) with traits table (Q) through an abundance table (L). Maximum body size, body form, respiration and feeding habits were the most discriminant traits for the set of taxa encountered in the peatbogs. Our results showed that water temperature, conductivity and flow acted as a trait filter of macroinvertebrate communities. We defined a graphic model of Habitat Templet considering as axes of adversity, the influence of temperature and conductivity; and as the axis of disturbance, the influence of flow, represented as the main diagonal. In this way, habitats are defined by levels of disturbance and adversity to which organisms respond with appropriate sets of traits;, such as variations in size, feeding habits and locomotion that are related to the environmental hardness .of the environment. These variables form constitute an ecological matrix that links traits and with habitat and could provide valuable insights into the structure and function of peatbogs.

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