Response of stream ecosystem structure to heavy metal pollution: context-dependency of top-down control by fish
dc.contributor.author
dc.date.accessioned
2022-02-15T09:57:10Z
dc.date.available
2022-02-15T09:57:10Z
dc.date.issued
2022-02-01
dc.identifier.issn
1015-1621
dc.identifier.uri
dc.description.abstract
The stress-gradient hypothesis predicts that biotic interactions within food webs are context dependent, since environmental stressors can attenuate consumer-prey interactions. Yet, how heavy metal pollution influences the impacts of predatory fish on ecosystem structure is unknown. This study was conducted in the Osor stream (Spain), which features a metal (mainly Zn) pollution gradient. We aimed to determine how the responses of benthic communities to the presence and absence of predatory fish interact with environmental stress and to test whether the top-down control of top predators is context dependent. To address these questions, periphyton biomass and macroinvertebrate densities were determined throughout an exclosure/enclosure mesocosm experiment using the Mediterranean barbel (Barbus meridionalis) as a top predator. The monitoring study showed that metal accumulation in periphyton and macroinvertebrates reflected patterns observed in water. The mesocosm study showed that fish predation effects on larval chironomids were not context-dependent and that periphyton biomass was markedly lower in the presence of fish regardless of metal pollution levels. This strong top-down control on periphytic algae was attributed to the foraging behaviour of fish causing bioturbation. In contrast, the top predator removal revealed grazer-periphyton interactions, which were mediated by heavy metal pollution. That is, periphyton benefitted from a lower grazing pressure in the metal-polluted sites. Together, our results suggest that the top-down control by fishes depends more on functional traits (e.g. feeding behaviour) than on feeding guild, and demonstrate the capacity of top predators to modify anthropogenic stressor effects on stream food-web structure
dc.description.sponsorship
Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC
agreement with Springer Nature. This research was supported by the
Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (projects
CGL2013‐43822‐R and CGL2016‐80820‐R, AEI/FEDER/EU) and
the Government of Catalonia (ref. 2017 SGR 548 and CERCA Programme). F. Rubio‐Gracia and M. Argudo beneftted from a predoctoral fellowship from the University of Girona (IFUdG2017) and the
Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR)
of the Government of Catalonia (2016 FI-B 00284), respectively
dc.format.mimetype
application/pdf
dc.language.iso
eng
dc.publisher
Springer Verlag
dc.relation
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO//CGL2013-43822-R/ES/HACIA UN USO SOSTENIBLE DE LOS ECOSISTEMAS FLUVIALES MEDITERRANEOS: EFECTOS DIRECTOS E INDIRECTOS DE LA ALTERACION HIDROLOGICA EN PECES/
MINECO/PE 2016-2019/CGL2016-80820-R
dc.relation.isformatof
Reproducció digital del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-022-00849-4
dc.relation.ispartof
Aquatic Sciences : Research Across Boundaries, 2022, vol. 84, num. 17
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Articles publicats (D-CCAA)
dc.rights
Reconeixement 4.0 Internacional
dc.rights.uri
dc.source
Rubio Gracia, Francesc Manel Argudo Fernández, Maria Zamora Hernández, Lluís Clements, William H. Vila i Gispert, Anna Casals, Frederic Guasch i Padró, Helena 2022 Response of stream ecosystem structure to heavy metal pollution: context-dependency of top-down control by fish Aquatic Sciences : Research Across Boundaries 84 17
dc.title
Response of stream ecosystem structure to heavy metal pollution: context-dependency of top-down control by fish
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.rights.accessRights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.type.version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi
dc.identifier.idgrec
034826
dc.contributor.funder
dc.type.peerreviewed
peer-reviewed
dc.relation.ProjectAcronym
dc.identifier.eissn
1420-9055