Forest–lake ecotones in a tropical forest : terrestrial invertebrate inputs to lakes decrease with forest distance.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
1. Ecotones between tropical forests and lakes compose an ecosystem intercon-
nection with a high abundance of terrestrial invertebrates, which represent an
outstanding resource for the aquatic fauna. However, there is still little quantita-
tive information on tropical forest contribution in terms of invertebrate inputs
into lacustrine systems and the factors controlling this flux.
2. To quantify the terrestrial invertebrate contribution into tropical lakes, we se-
lected six lakes located in the Atlantic rainforest, south-eastern Brazil, and used
pan traps placed in the lakeshore. We focused on total abundance, biomass, and
richness of insect orders. To assess the influence of forest and lake morphom-
etry on terrestrial invertebrate inputs into lakes, we measured the forest–lake
distance and considered the morphometric characteristics of each lake.
3. Distance from forest negatively affected the invertebrate biomass reaching the
lakes. The dissimilarity across different ecotones also increased with distance
from the forest. Perimeter-to-area ratio negatively affected the invertebrate
abundance, suggesting that more dendritic lakes receive more invertebrates
from the forest.
4. We estimated that annually, on average 21 tons of terrestrial invertebrates fall
into the studied lakes, representing a massive food resource for the aquatic eco-
system. Hence, if the distance from the forest increases due, for instance, to se-
vere drought or deforestation, it will create an herbaceous environment unable
to provide such a quantity of insects to the water ecosystems, compromising
aquatic and terrestrial trophic webs dynamics.
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Keywords
Atlantic rainforest, β diversity, Energy flux, Insect biomass, Tropical lakes
Citation
DOLABELA, B. M. et al. Forest–lake ecotones in a tropical forest: terrestrial invertebrate inputs to lakes decrease with forest distance. Freshwater Biology, v. 67, p. 1079-1090, 2022. Disponível em: <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/fwb.13902>. Acesso em: 29 abr. 2022.