Extreme rainfall events alter the trophic structure in bromeliad tanks across the Neotropics
Open Access
- 25 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Communications
- Vol. 11 (1), 1-8
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17036-4
Abstract
Changes in global and regional precipitation regimes are among the most pervasive components of climate change. Intensification of rainfall cycles, ranging from frequent downpours to severe droughts, could cause widespread, but largely unknown, alterations to trophic structure and ecosystem function. We conducted multi-site coordinated experiments to show how variation in the quantity and evenness of rainfall modulates trophic structure in 210 natural freshwater microcosms (tank bromeliads) across Central and South America (18°N to 29°S). The biomass of smaller organisms (detritivores) was higher under more stable hydrological conditions. Conversely, the biomass of predators was highest when rainfall was uneven, resulting in top-heavy biomass pyramids. These results illustrate how extremes of precipitation, resulting in localized droughts or flooding, can erode the base of freshwater food webs, with negative implications for the stability of trophic dynamics.This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- What precipitation is extreme?Science, 2018
- Pushing precipitation to the extremes in distributed experiments: recommendations for simulating wet and dry yearsGlobal Change Biology, 2016
- Trophic interactions determine the effects of drought on an aquatic ecosystemEcology, 2016
- The effects of climatic fluctuations and extreme events on running water ecosystemsPhilosophical Transactions B, 2016
- Drought rewires the cores of food websNature Climate Change, 2016
- More extreme precipitation in the world’s dry and wet regionsNature Climate Change, 2016
- Functional trait responses of aquatic macroinvertebrates to simulated drought in a Neotropical bromeliad ecosystemFreshwater Biology, 2015
- Anthropogenic contribution to global occurrence of heavy-precipitation and high-temperature extremesNature Climate Change, 2015
- Habitat size influences food web structure in drying streamsEcography, 2014
- Drought alters the structure and functioning of complex food websNature Climate Change, 2012