The Role of Chironomidae in Separating Naturally Poor from Disturbed Communities
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From taxonomy to multiple-trait bioassessment: the role of Chironomidae in separating naturally poor from disturbed communities Da taxonomia à abordagem baseada nos multiatributos dos taxa: função dos Chironomidae na separação de comunidades naturalmente pobres das antropogenicamente perturbadas Sónia Raquel Quinás Serra Tese de doutoramento em Biociências, ramo de especialização Ecologia de Bacias Hidrográficas, orientada pela Doutora Maria João Feio, pelo Doutor Manuel Augusto Simões Graça e pelo Doutor Sylvain Dolédec e apresentada ao Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra. Agosto de 2016 This thesis was made under the Agreement for joint supervision of doctoral studies leading to the award of a dual doctoral degree. This agreement was celebrated between partner institutions from two countries (Portugal and France) and the Ph.D. student. The two Universities involved were: And This thesis was supported by: Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), financing program: ‘Programa Operacional Potencial Humano/Fundo Social Europeu’ (POPH/FSE): through an individual scholarship for the PhD student with reference: SFRH/BD/80188/2011 And MARE-UC – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre. University of Coimbra, Portugal: CNRS, UMR 5023 - LEHNA, Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, University Lyon1, France: Aos meus amados pais, sempre os melhores e mais dedicados amigos Table of contents: ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... 1 RESUMO .......................................................................................................................... 3 RESUME DETAILLE ........................................................................................................ 5 GENERAL INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 11 HABITAT TEMPLET THEORY AND TRAIT-BASED APPROACHES ........................................... 11 BIOASSESSEMENT: WHY CHIRONOMIDS ARE NEGLECTED ................................................ 14 CHIRONOMIDAE IN FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS .............................................................. 16 A group with diversified biological characteristics .................................................... 16 How to quantify chironomidae traits? ....................................................................... 18 GENERAL AIMS AND THESIS OUTLINE ..................................................................... 21 PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER I: BUILDING A NEW EUROPEAN CHIRONOMIDAE DATABASE: GENERAL METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 27 CHIRONOMIDAE DIVERSITY ............................................................................................ 27 TRAIT COMPILATION ....................................................................................................... 28 EUROPEAN CHIRONOMIDAE LIST .................................................................................... 28 LITERATURE CONSULTED ............................................................................................... 29 LIST OF TRAITS IN THE DATABASE ................................................................................... 29 CONTENT OF THE DATABASE .......................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER II: SYNTHESISING THE TRAIT INFORMATION OF EUROPEAN CHIRONOMIDAE (INSECTA: DIPTERA): TOWARDS A NEW DATABASE ................ 37 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 37 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 38 METHODS ..................................................................................................................... 40 European freshwater Chironomidae traits ............................................................... 40 Comparison between the two databases ................................................................. 41 Chironomidae subfamily trait relatedness ................................................................ 42 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................... 42 European freshwater Chironomidae trait database ................................................. 42 Chironomidae subfamily trait relatedness ................................................................ 48 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER III: CHIRONOMIDAE GENERA AND RESPECTIVE TRAITS ARE RELEVANT TO DISCRIMINATE PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY RIVERS ............. 57 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 57 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 57 METHODS ..................................................................................................................... 63 Study area, selection of stream types and sites ...................................................... 63 Sampling collection, processing and mounting ........................................................ 64 Trait composition ...................................................................................................... 64 Data analyses .......................................................................................................... 65 IX RESULTS ...................................................................................................................... 67 Environmental conditions ......................................................................................... 67 Taxonomic composition ........................................................................................... 67 Trait-by-taxa arrays .................................................................................................. 69 Trait-by-sites arrays ................................................................................................. 70 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 75 CHAPTER IV: CHIRONOMIDAE TRAITS AND LIFE HISTORY STRATEGIES AS INDICATORS OF ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCE ................................................ 81 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 81 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 81 METHODS ..................................................................................................................... 84 Study area, sites and environmental characterization ............................................. 84 Chironomidae sampling and identification ............................................................... 84 Trait composition ..................................................................................................... 85 Life History Strategies (LHS) ................................................................................... 85 Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 86 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................... 88 Environmental characterization ............................................................................... 88 Taxonomic composition ........................................................................................... 88 Trait composition ..................................................................................................... 90 Life History Strategies .............................................................................................. 92 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 93 CHAPTER V: CHIRONOMIDAE OF HOLARCTIC REGION: COMPARISON OF TRAITS BETWEEN NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE................................................ 99 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 99 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 99 METHODS ................................................................................................................... 101 RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 102 Database description ............................................................................................. 102 Database comparison ............................................................................................ 106 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................ 112 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................