Environmental Variables Influencing the Distribution of Hydraenidae and Elmidae Assemblages (Coleóptera) in a Moderately-Polluted River Basin in North-Western Spain
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Eur. J. Entomol. 96:37—44, 1999 ISSN 1210-5759 Environmental variables influencing the distribution of Hydraenidae and Elmidae assemblages (Coleóptera) in a moderately-polluted river basin in north-western Spain F rancisco GARCÍA-CRIADO1, C am ino FERNÁNDEZ-ALÁEZ2 and M argarita FERNÁNDEZ-ALÁEZ2 'Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain; e-mail: [email protected] 2Área de Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain Key words. Coleóptera, water beetle assemblages, Hydraenidae, Elmidae, environmental factors, pollution indicators, TW1NSPAN, CCA Abstract. The Hydraenidae and Elmidae assemblages living in the Órbigo River Basin (NW Spain) were studied during one year. The aim of the research was to determine which factors were best related to species composition. This knowledge is the first step to wards the definition o f indicator species or assemblages. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that altitudinal gradient was the factor most correlated with beetle distribution. However, some other variables, such as water mineralization and eutrophication, were also important. Using TWINSPAN program, groups o f sites were defined and, afterwards, represented on the CCA diagram. Several species as semblages were defined on the basis o f their frequencies o f occurrence in these site groups. The environmental features o f site groups and beetle assemblages were assessed with the aid o f CCA. In this way, assemblages typical o f high reaches could be sepa rated from those of low stretches o f the rivers. Similarly, communities from non-polluted waters could also be defined. Although several species are present in polluted sites, no assemblage exclusive to these sites has been found. INTRODUCTION The question arose of which factors were more related to Faunistic and taxonomic studies on Hydraenidae and the community composition. So, in this paper we have Elmidae have become increasingly important in Spain in taken a more global approach, at an assemblage level, in recent years (Montes & Soler, 1986; Valladares & Mon volving numerous environmental variables. tes, 1991; Rico, 1996). The degree of knowledge about MATERIAL AND METHODS these subjects is relatively high in some regions, includ Detailed information on the characteristics o f the Orbigo ing the north-western area of the country (Valladares, River basin is given in García Criado & Fernández Aláez 1988, 1989; Garrido, 1990; Díaz Pazos, 1991). It would (1994). This basin lies mainly on a siliceous substratum with be expedient to go deep into other aspects related to the only the northern rivers (Luna and Torrestio) flowing over cal ecology of these species. This is the previous step to the careous areas. There are no important pollution sources. How assessment of the suitability of these families as pollution ever, a moderate level o f urban and agriculture-derived contami indicators. nation is apparent in the lowest reaches o f the Orbigo and The relatively small amount of work carried out in this Tuerto Rivers. The result is a moderate eutrophication by inor field in Spain so far has usually focused on autecological ganic nutrients. considerations (Puig, 1983; Sáinz-Cantero et al., 1987). Thirty seven sites were sampled in each season o f one year, in However, the study of communities as a whole has con April, July/August, October and February (Fig. 1). Each sample comprised a search o f five minutes in the centre o f the river. siderable advantages over individual species analysis. The samples were always taken on stony substratum devoid of This fact has been taken into account by several authors, vegetation. The substratum consisted o f cobbles in all the sam who have made use of classification and ordination tech plings, with occasional larger rocks (up to 40 cm) at some head niques applied to the study of both macrobenthic (Wright water sites. No specimens were collected in three locations (L-l, et al., 1984; Rutt et al., 1989; Monzón et al., 1990; Jef Tu-2 and Or-7), so it has not been possible to include them in fries, 1994; Malmqvist & Maki, 1994; Petts & Bickerton, the subsequent analysis. Physical and chemical measurements 1994; Armitage et al., 1995; Collinson et al., 1995; Ver- were averaged over the four visits to each site. Similarly, spe donschot, 1995) and Coleóptera assemblages (Soler et al., cies data were taken altogether regardless o f the season. In this 1976; Eyre et al., 1986, 1993; Foster et al., 1992; Ribera way, a large enough number o f species and individuals is avail able to effect a representative multivariate approach (Millet & & Foster, 1992). Prat, 1984). Qualitative data were used for the multivariate In previous papers, we have offered some autecological analysis. data from research carried out in the Orbigo River Basin, Canonical Correspondence Analysis, CCA (Ter Braak, 1986), aiming to describe the ecological preferences of some has been used to process the information. It is an ordination species of Hydraenidae and Elmidae (García Criado et al., technique allowing the relationship o f a set o f variables with the 1994, 1995; García Criado & Fernández Aláez, 1995). distribution o f a community to be examined. Twenty-two physi- 37 istence of siliceous and calcareous areas is shown by the wide range of conductivity and silicate. Table 1. Range of environmental data measured during the study period. It illustrates the general characteristics of the ba sin. Range pH 6.5-9.7 Conductivity (gS/cm) 17-294 Oxygen (mg/1) 7-15.2 Nitrate (mg/1 N-NOj") 0-6.89 Total phosphorus (pM POA) 0.11-3.95 Silicate (mg/1 Si) 0.35-10.3 Sulphate (mg/1 S 0 42“) 2-34.7 Chloride (mg/1) 0.48-23.2 Altitude (m) 720-1,360 The eigenvalues for CCA axes 1-4 were 0.553, 0.368, 0.202 and 0.137. Correlations of axes 3 and 4 with envi ronmental variables were low (r < 0.5), and only axes 1 and 2 were used for data interpretation. The cumulative percentage of variance of species-environment relation is 58.1 for these two axes (see Table 2 for further informa tion). The first canonical axis was significant as shown by Monte Carlo permutation test (p = 0.01). The overall Monte Carlo test also gave a significance of p = 0.01. Table 2. Eigenvalues and cumulative percentage variance for CCA axes. Axes 1 2 3 4 Eigenvalues 0.553 0.368 0.202 0.137 Fig. 1. Geographical situation o f the study area, showing the Cumulative percentage variance sampling sites. o f species data 14.6 24.4 29.7 33.3 o f species-environment relation 34.9 58.1 70.8 79.5 cal and chemical parameters were measured in the streams: wa ter temperature, pH, conductivity, total suspended solids, oxy In order to get the most from the CCA plot (Fig. 2), we gen concentration and saturation, alkalinity, chemical oxygen must take into account, as Ter Braak (1987) states, that demand, biochemical oxygen demand, calcium, magnesium, so every arrow representing each one of the variables deter dium, potasium, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, ortophosphate, total mines a direction or “axis” in the diagram; the species dissolved phosphorus, total phosphorus, sulphates, chlorides and silicates. Altitude and distance from the source were also in points can be projected on to this axis, indicating aproxi- cluded. Gradient, depth, current velocity and flow are closely mately its position along an environmental variable. For related to altitude (and distance from the source) in the study example, Esolus pygmaeus is found in sites showing a area and have not been considered. Variables giving more re high concentration of chloride, while, at the other end of dundant information (variance inflation factor above 20 in the graph, Ochthebius heydeni, Hydraena inapicipalpis, CCA) were removed in order to make interpretation easier; in and Oulimnius tuberculatus, for example, occur in sites this way statistical problems were also avoided. The parameters with low concentrations. The arrow points in the direction finally selected were altitude, pH, conductivity, nitrate, of maximum change of the variable across the diagram, sulphate, total phosphorus, chloride, oxygen and silicate. Their while its length is proportional to the rate of change (Ter variance inflation factor was below 7, indicating that they were not significantly autocorrelated. Braak, 1987). The longer the arrow, the stronger the cor Secondly, classification o f sites was carried out by means o f relation with the ordination axes. Two Way Indicator Species Analysis, TWINSPAN (Hill, 1979), The first axis is most correlated with altitude. a program producing a hierarchical, divisive classification. Therefore, longitudinal gradient-derived variations seem to be the main factor in Hydraenidae and Elmidae distri RESULTS bution. Species (Fig. 2) and sites (Fig. 3) from high 3,973 adults belonging to 32 species of Hydraenidae reaches are located on the negative side of this axis, while and Elmidae were collected. The ranges of the nine envi those from low reaches are found at the positive end. ronmental variables appear in Table 1. A moderate Axis 2 is partially related to alkaline mineralization of eutrophication is revealed by these data. Similarly, the ex- the water (conductivity, pH). This situation is a natural consequence of the lithological characteristics of the ba- 38 Il Fig. 2. CCA ordination diagram (axes I and II). The arrangement o f species in relation to the environmental variables (arrows) shows their ecological preferences. sin, with a marked contrast between siliceous and calcare on the CCA diagram (Fig. 3) has allowed us, firstly, to ous areas. Sites with the highest level of mineralization confirm that the elements inside each group are related are on the positive end of this axis, as well as the species (appear next to each other in the plot) and, secondly, to collected from these sites.