Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Guy Woodward - Deputy Head of Department

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences (Silwood Park)

Professor of Ecology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

guy.woodward

 
 
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Location

 

MunroSilwood Park

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Aspin:2019:10.1111/fwb.13259,
author = {Aspin, TWH and Hart, K and Khamis, K and Milner, AM and O'Callaghan, MJ and Trimmer, M and Wang, Z and Williams, GMD and Woodward, G and Ledger, ME},
doi = {10.1111/fwb.13259},
journal = {Freshwater Biology},
pages = {750--760},
title = {Drought intensification alters the composition, body size, and trophic structure of invertebrate assemblages in a stream mesocosm experiment},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13259},
volume = {64},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Predicted trends towards more intense droughts are of particular significance for running water ecosystems, as the loss of critical stream habitat can provoke sudden changes in biodiversity and shifts in community structure. However, analysing ecological responses to the progressive loss of stream habitat requires a continuous disturbance gradient that can only be generated through largescale manipulations of streamflow.In the first experiment of its kind, we used large artificial stream channels (mesocosms) as analogues of springfed headwaters and simulated a gradient of drought intensity that encompassed flowing streams, disconnected pools, and dry streambeds. We used breakpoint analysis to analyse macroinvertebrate community responses to intensifying drought, and identify the taxa and compositional metrics sensitive to small changes in drought stress.We detected breakpoints for >60% of taxa, signalling sudden population crashes or irruptions as drought intensified. Abrupt changes were most pronounced where riffle dewatering isolated pools. In the remnant wetted habitat, we observed a shift to larger body sizes across the community, primarily driven by irruptions of predatory midge larvae and coincident population collapses among prey species (worms and smaller midges).Our results suggest that intense predation in confined, fragmented stream habitat can lead to unexpected changes in body sizes, challenging the conventional wisdom that droughts favour the small. Pool fragmentation might thus be the most critical stage of habitat loss during future droughts, as the point at which impacted rivers and streams begin to exhibit major shifts in fundamental food web properties.
AU  - Aspin,TWH
AU  - Hart,K
AU  - Khamis,K
AU  - Milner,AM
AU  - O'Callaghan,MJ
AU  - Trimmer,M
AU  - Wang,Z
AU  - Williams,GMD
AU  - Woodward,G
AU  - Ledger,ME
DO  - 10.1111/fwb.13259
EP  - 760
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 0046-5070
SP  - 750
TI  - Drought intensification alters the composition, body size, and trophic structure of invertebrate assemblages in a stream mesocosm experiment
T2  - Freshwater Biology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13259
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000461212700011&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/70399
VL  - 64
ER  -
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