Constraints on the functional trait space of aquatic invertebrates in bromeliads

Author(s):Show less -

Cereghino, Regis ^[1] ; Pillar, Valerio D. ^{[2, 3]} ; Srivastava, Diane S. ^{[4, 5]} ; de Omena, Paula M. ^[6] ; MacDonald, A. Andrew M. ^{[1, 7]} ; Barberis, Ignacio M. ^[8] ; Corbara, Bruno ^[9] ; Guzman, Laura M. ^{[4, 5]} ; Leroy, Celine ^{[10, 11]} ; Ospina Bautista, Fabiola ^[12] ; Romero, Gustavo Q. ^[6] ; Trzcinski, M. Kurtis ^[13] ; Kratina, Pavel ^[14] ; Debastiani, Vanderlei J. ^{[2, 3]} ; Goncalves, Ana Z. ^[15] ; Marino, Nicholas A. C. ^{[16, 17]} ; Farjalla, Vinicius F. ^[16] ; Richardson, Barbara A. ^[18] ; Richardson, Michael J. ^[18] ; Dezerald, Olivier ^[19] ; Gilbert, Benjamin ^[20] ; Petermann, Jana ^{[21, 22]} ; Talaga, Stanislas ^[23] ; Piccoli, Gustavo C. O. ^[24] ; Jocque, Merlijn ^[25] ; Montero, Guillermo ^[26]

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Univ Toulouse, CNRS, ECOLAB, Toulouse - France

^[2] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Dept Ecol, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Grad Program Ecol, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[4] Univ British Columbia, Dept Zool, Vancouver, BC - Canada

^[5] Univ British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC - Canada

^[6] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Anim Biol, Lab Multitroph Interact & Biodivers, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[7] Ctr Synth & Anal Biodivers CESAB FRB, Aix En Provence - France

^[8] Univ Nacl Rosario, Inst Invest Ciencias Agr, Fac Ciencias Agr, Zavalla - Argentina

^[9] Univ Clermont Auvergne, Lab Microorganismes Genome & Environm, Aubiere - France

^[10] Univ Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, AMAP, IRD, CIRAD, Montpellier - France

^[11] ECOFOG, Campus Agron, Kourou - France

^[12] Andes Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Bogota - Colombia

^[13] Univ British Columbia, Dept Forest & Conservat Sci, Vancouver, BC - Canada

^[14] Queen Mary Univ London, Sch Biol & Chem Sci, London - England

^[15] Univ Sao Paulo, Biosci Inst, Dept Bot, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[16] Univ Fed Rio De Janeiro, Inst Biol, Dept Ecol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[17] Univ Fed Rio De Janeiro, Programa Posgrad Ecol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[18] Univ Puerto Rico, Inst Trop Ecosyst Studies, Luquillo LTER, San Juan, PR 00936 - USA

^[19] Univ Lorraine, CNRS, Lab Interdisciplinaire Environm Continentau, Metz - France

^[20] Univ Toronto, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Toronto, ON - Canada

^[21] Univ Salzburg, Dept Biosci, Salzburg - Austria

^[22] Berlin Brandenburg Inst Adv Biodivers Res, Berlin - Germany

^[23] Inst Pasteur Guyane, Unite Entomol Med, Cayenne - France

^[24] Univ Sao Paulo State, Dept Zool & Bot, Sao Jose Do Rio Preto, SP - Brazil

^[25] Royal Belgian Inst Nat Sci, Aquat & Terr Ecol, Brussels - Belgium

^[26] Univ Nacl Rosario, Fac Ciencias Agr, Zavalla - Argentina

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY; v. 32, n. 10, p. 2435-2447, OCT 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 4

Abstract

1. Functional traits are commonly used in predictive models that link environmental drivers and community structure to ecosystem functioning. A prerequisite is to identify robust sets of continuous axes of trait variation, and to understand the ecological and evolutionary constraints that result in the functional trait space occupied by interacting species. Despite their diversity and role in ecosystem functioning, little is known of the constraints on the functional trait space of invertebrate biotas of entire biogeographic regions. 2. We examined the ecological strategies and constraints underlying the realized trait space of aquatic invertebrates, using data on 12 functional traits of 852 taxa collected in tank bromeliads from Mexico to Argentina. Principal Component Analysis was used to reduce trait dimensionality to significant axes of trait variation, and the proportion of potential trait space that is actually occupied by all taxa was compared to null model expectations. Permutational Analyses of Variance were used to test whether trait combinations were clade-dependent. 3. The major axes of trait variation represented life-history strategies optimizing resource use and antipredator adaptations. There was evidence for trophic, habitat, defence and life-history niche axes. Bromeliad invertebrates only occupied 16%-23% of the potential space within these dimensions, due to greater concentrations than predicted under uniform or normal distributions. Thus, despite high taxonomic diversity, invertebrates only utilized a small number of successful ecological strategies. 4. Empty areas in trait space represented gaps between major phyla that arose from biological innovations, and trait combinations that are unviable in the bromeliad ecosystem. Only a few phylogenetically distant genera were neighbouring in trait space. Trait combinations aggregated taxa by family and then by order, suggesting that niche conservatism was a widespread mechanism in the diversification of ecological strategies. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/01209-9 - Effects of climate change on the structure of food webs in latitudinal gradients
• Grantee: Gustavo Quevedo Romero
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• FAPESP's process: 14/04603-4 - Global warming effects on the trophic structure and ecosystem functioning in tank-bromeliads
• Grantee: Pablo Augusto Poleto Antiqueira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate