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Quantifying seasonality along a latitudinal gradient: from stream temperature to growth of invasive mosquitofish

Most ecosystems undergo substantial variation over the seasons, ranging from changes in abiotic features, such as temperature, light and precipitation, to changes in species abundance and composition. How seasonality varies along latitudinal gradients is not well known in freshwater ecosystems, despite being very important in predicting the effects of climate change and in helping to advance ecological understanding. Stream temperature is often well correlated with air temperature and influences many ecosystem features such as growth and metabolism of most aquatic organisms. We evaluated the degree of seasonality in ten river mouths along a latitudinal gradient for a set of variables, ranging from air and water temperatures, to physical and chemical properties of water and growth of an invasive fish species (eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki ). Our results show that although most of the variation in air temperature was explained by latitude and season, this was not the case for water features, including temperature, in lowland Mediterranean streams, which depended less on season and much more on local factors. Similarly, although there was evidence of latitude-dependent seasonality in fish growth, the relationship was nonlinear and weak and the significant latitudinal differences in growth rates observed during winter were compensated later in the year and did not result in overall differences in size and growth. Our results suggest that although latitudinal differences in air temperature cascade through properties of freshwater ecosystems, local factors and complex interactions often override the water temperature variation with latitude and might therefore hinder projections of species distribution models and effects of climate change

Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (projects CGL2009-12877-C02-01, CGL2013-43822-R and CSD2009-00065) and the University of Girona (project SING12/09)

Ecological Society of America (ESA)

Director: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Espanya)
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Espanya)
Autor: Carmona Catot, Gerard
Santos, Alejandra F. G. N.
Tedesco, Pablo A.
García-Berthou, Emili
Data: 2014
Resum: Most ecosystems undergo substantial variation over the seasons, ranging from changes in abiotic features, such as temperature, light and precipitation, to changes in species abundance and composition. How seasonality varies along latitudinal gradients is not well known in freshwater ecosystems, despite being very important in predicting the effects of climate change and in helping to advance ecological understanding. Stream temperature is often well correlated with air temperature and influences many ecosystem features such as growth and metabolism of most aquatic organisms. We evaluated the degree of seasonality in ten river mouths along a latitudinal gradient for a set of variables, ranging from air and water temperatures, to physical and chemical properties of water and growth of an invasive fish species (eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki ). Our results show that although most of the variation in air temperature was explained by latitude and season, this was not the case for water features, including temperature, in lowland Mediterranean streams, which depended less on season and much more on local factors. Similarly, although there was evidence of latitude-dependent seasonality in fish growth, the relationship was nonlinear and weak and the significant latitudinal differences in growth rates observed during winter were compensated later in the year and did not result in overall differences in size and growth. Our results suggest that although latitudinal differences in air temperature cascade through properties of freshwater ecosystems, local factors and complex interactions often override the water temperature variation with latitude and might therefore hinder projections of species distribution models and effects of climate change
Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (projects CGL2009-12877-C02-01, CGL2013-43822-R and CSD2009-00065) and the University of Girona (project SING12/09)
Format: application/pdf
Accés al document: http://hdl.handle.net/10256/10213
Llenguatge: eng
Editor: Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Col·lecció: info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1890/ES14-00163.1
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/2150-8925
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/
MICINN/PN 2010-2012/CGL2009-12877-C02-01
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN//CSD2009-00065/ES/Evaluación y predicción de los efectos del cambio global en la cantidad y la calidad del agua en ríos ibéricos/
Drets: Attribution 3.0 Spain
URI Drets: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Matèria: Canvis climàtics -- Europa
Climatic changes -- Europa
Animals invasors
Introduced organisms
Peixos d’aigua dolça
Freshwater fishes
Ecologia d’aigua dolça
Freshwater ecology
Títol: Quantifying seasonality along a latitudinal gradient: from stream temperature to growth of invasive mosquitofish
Tipus: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Repositori: DUGiDocs

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