Cargando…
Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments
Ongoing glacial retreat is expected to lead to numerous changes in glacier-fed rivers. This study documents the development of community composition of the hitherto widely neglected micro- and meiobenthos (MMB: bacteria, fungi, algae, protists, and meiofauna) in glacier rivers in response to the dis...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
2013
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3790533/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24101976 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.679 |
_version_ | 1782286604476350464 |
---|---|
author | Eisendle-Flöckner, Ursula Jersabek, Christian D Kirchmair, Martin Hashold, Kerstin Traunspurger, Walter |
author_facet | Eisendle-Flöckner, Ursula Jersabek, Christian D Kirchmair, Martin Hashold, Kerstin Traunspurger, Walter |
author_sort | Eisendle-Flöckner, Ursula |
collection | PubMed |
description | Ongoing glacial retreat is expected to lead to numerous changes in glacier-fed rivers. This study documents the development of community composition of the hitherto widely neglected micro- and meiobenthos (MMB: bacteria, fungi, algae, protists, and meiofauna) in glacier rivers in response to the distinct habitat conditions driven by different stages of (de)glacierization. Our model is based on the glacier catchments of the Möll River (MC) and Kleinelendbach stream (KC), in the Austrian Alps, with 60% and 25% glacierization and glacier retreats of 403 and 26 m, respectively, since 1998. Analyses of overall catchment diversity and resemblance patterns showed that neither intense glacierization nor rapid deglacierization were predominant MMB determinants. This was ascribed to the specific environmental conditions at the MC, where the rapidly retreating Pasterze glacier has formed a harsh unstable proglacial, but also a benign floodplain area, with the former suppressing and the latter supporting the structural development of the MMB. Comparisons of similarly aged riverine habitats of the MC proglacial and the KC main channel further evidenced developmental suppression of the MMB (64 taxa) by the rapidly retreating MC glacier, unlike the moderate glacial retreat in the KC (130 taxa). Habitat conditions interacting with melt periods explained the differences in MMB resemblance patterns, which themselves differentially reflected the spatiotemporal habitat settings imposed by the different glacier activities. The varying glacial influences were represented by a glaciality index (GIm) based on water temperature, electrical conductivity, and stream bed stability. The taxonomic richness of nematodes, rotifers, algae, and diatoms was distinctly related to this index, as were most MMB abundances. However, the strongest relationships to the GIm were those of nematode abundances and maturity. Our observations highlight the intense response of the MMB to ongoing glacier retreat and the utility of a simple index to reveal such patterns. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3790533 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-37905332013-10-07 Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments Eisendle-Flöckner, Ursula Jersabek, Christian D Kirchmair, Martin Hashold, Kerstin Traunspurger, Walter Ecol Evol Original Research Ongoing glacial retreat is expected to lead to numerous changes in glacier-fed rivers. This study documents the development of community composition of the hitherto widely neglected micro- and meiobenthos (MMB: bacteria, fungi, algae, protists, and meiofauna) in glacier rivers in response to the distinct habitat conditions driven by different stages of (de)glacierization. Our model is based on the glacier catchments of the Möll River (MC) and Kleinelendbach stream (KC), in the Austrian Alps, with 60% and 25% glacierization and glacier retreats of 403 and 26 m, respectively, since 1998. Analyses of overall catchment diversity and resemblance patterns showed that neither intense glacierization nor rapid deglacierization were predominant MMB determinants. This was ascribed to the specific environmental conditions at the MC, where the rapidly retreating Pasterze glacier has formed a harsh unstable proglacial, but also a benign floodplain area, with the former suppressing and the latter supporting the structural development of the MMB. Comparisons of similarly aged riverine habitats of the MC proglacial and the KC main channel further evidenced developmental suppression of the MMB (64 taxa) by the rapidly retreating MC glacier, unlike the moderate glacial retreat in the KC (130 taxa). Habitat conditions interacting with melt periods explained the differences in MMB resemblance patterns, which themselves differentially reflected the spatiotemporal habitat settings imposed by the different glacier activities. The varying glacial influences were represented by a glaciality index (GIm) based on water temperature, electrical conductivity, and stream bed stability. The taxonomic richness of nematodes, rotifers, algae, and diatoms was distinctly related to this index, as were most MMB abundances. However, the strongest relationships to the GIm were those of nematode abundances and maturity. Our observations highlight the intense response of the MMB to ongoing glacier retreat and the utility of a simple index to reveal such patterns. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013-09 2013-07-22 /pmc/articles/PMC3790533/ /pubmed/24101976 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.679 Text en © 2013 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation. |
spellingShingle | Original Research Eisendle-Flöckner, Ursula Jersabek, Christian D Kirchmair, Martin Hashold, Kerstin Traunspurger, Walter Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
title | Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
title_full | Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
title_fullStr | Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
title_full_unstemmed | Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
title_short | Community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
title_sort | community patterns of the small riverine benthos within and between two contrasting glacier catchments |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3790533/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24101976 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.679 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT eisendleflocknerursula communitypatternsofthesmallriverinebenthoswithinandbetweentwocontrastingglaciercatchments AT jersabekchristiand communitypatternsofthesmallriverinebenthoswithinandbetweentwocontrastingglaciercatchments AT kirchmairmartin communitypatternsofthesmallriverinebenthoswithinandbetweentwocontrastingglaciercatchments AT hasholdkerstin communitypatternsofthesmallriverinebenthoswithinandbetweentwocontrastingglaciercatchments AT traunspurgerwalter communitypatternsofthesmallriverinebenthoswithinandbetweentwocontrastingglaciercatchments |