LARVAE AND PUPAE AS INDICATORS OF ANTHROPIC DISTURBANCES: USE OF TRAITS

ZANOTTO ARPELLINO, JUAN PABLO; SAIGO, MIGUEL; MONTALTO, LUCIANA; DONATO, MARIANO

HYDROBIOLOGIA

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2023

0018-8158

Urban-industrial contamination in streamsaffects the functional structure of chironomid assemblages. The aims of thisstudy were to determine whether water quality affects the functional diversityof Chironomidae, and which biological traits are related to water qualityvariables. We characterized species according to larval and pupal traits andused linear models to test whether functional richness and diversity wererelated to urban-industrial impact. We performed an RLQ and fourth-corneranalysis to evaluate the relationship between traits and environmentalvariables. Functional richness and diversity were related negatively tonutrients and depth, and positively to temperature, macrophyte cover anddissolved oxygen in the different seasons. Body size, thoracic horn shape andcurrent velocity preferences were significantly related to environmentalvariables. Our results suggest that nutrients may be an environmental filterfor chironomids. The pupal thoracic horn was associated with highly impacted sites, suggestingthat oxygen depletion could be an environmental challenge for pupae. Our studyshows that urban-industrial impact decreases functional richness and diversity.Furthermore, because some characteristics of the pupae were sensitive tourban-industrial impact, the use of pupal traits is suggested in futurebiomonitoring analyses of aquatic environments.