Perils of life on the edge: Climatic threats to global diversity patterns of wetland macroinvertebrates

EPELÉ LUIS BELTRÁN; GRECH MARÍA MARTA; WILLIAMS-SUBIZA EMILIO A. ; STENERT CRISTINA; MCLEAN KYLE; GREIG HAMISH S.; MALTCHIK LEONARDO; MARQUES PIRES MATEUS; BIRD MATTHEW S.; BOISSEZON AURELIE ; BOIX DANI; DEMIERRE ELIANE ; GARCÍA PATRICIA E.; GASCÓN STEPHANIE; JEFFRIES MICHAEL ; KNEITEL JAMIE M. ; LOSKUTOVA OLGA; MANZO LUZ M. ; MATALONI GABRIELA; MLAMBO MUSA C. ; OERTLI BEAT; SALA JORDI; SCHEIBLER ERICA E. ; WU HAITAO; WISSINGER SCOTT A. ; BATZER DAROLD P.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2022 vol. 820

0048-9697

Climate change is rapidly driving global biodiversity declines. How wetland macroinvertebrate assemblages are responding is unclear, a concern given their vital function in these ecosystems. Using a data set from 769 minimally impacted depressional wetlands across the globe (467 temporary and 302 permanent), we evaluated how temperature and precipitation (average, range, variability) affects the richness and beta diversity of 144 macroinvertebrate families. To test the effects of climatic predictors on macroinvertebrate diversity, we fitted generalized additive mixed-effects models (GAMM) for family richness and generalized dissimilarity models (GDMs) for total beta diversity. We found non-linear relationships between family richness, beta diversity, and climate. Maximumtemperature was the main climatic driver of wetland macroinvertebrate richness and beta diversity, but precipitation seasonality was also important. Assemblage responses to climatic variables also depended on wetland water permanency. Permanent wetlands from warmer regions had higher family richness than temporary wetlands. Interestingly, wetlands in cooler anddry-warm regions had the lowest taxonomic richness, but both kinds of wetlands supported unique assemblages. Our study suggests that climate change will have multiple effects on wetlands and their macroinvertebrate diversity, mostly via increases in maximumtemperature, but also through changes in patterns of precipitation. Themost vulnerable wetlands to climate change are likely those located in warm-dry regions, where entire macroinvertebrate assemblages would be extirpated. Montane and high-latitude wetlands (i.e., cooler regions) are also vulnerable to climatechange, but we do not expect entire extirpations at the family level.