Data from: Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades
Cite this dataset
Larsen, Stefano; Ormerod, Steve (2023). Data from: Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1ns1rn90w
Abstract
Important clues about the ecological effects of climate change can arise from understanding the influence of other Earth-system processes on ecosystem dynamics but few studies span the inter-decadal timescales required. We, therefore, examined how variation in annual weather patterns associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) over four decades was linked to synchrony and stability in a metacommunity of stream invertebrates across multiple, contrasting headwaters in central Wales (UK).
Prolonged warmer and wetter conditions during positive NAO winters appeared to synchronise variations in population and community composition among and within streams thereby reducing stability across levels of ecological organisation. This climatically-mediated synchronisation occurred in all streams irrespective of acid-base status and land use, but was weaker where invertebrate communities were more functionally diverse. Wavelet linear models indicated that variation in the NAO explained up to 50% of overall synchrony in species abundances at a timescale of 4-6 years. The NAO appeared to affect ecological dynamics through local variations in temperature, precipitation and discharge, but increasing hydrochemical variability across sites during wetter winters might have contributed.
Our findings illustrate how large-scale climatic fluctuations generated over the North Atlantic can affect population persistence and dynamics in inland freshwater ecosystems in ways that transcend local catchment character. Protecting and restoring functional diversity in stream communities might increase their stability against warmer, wetter conditions that are analogues of ongoing climate change. Catchment management could also dampen impacts and provide options for climate change adaptation.
README
Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Title: Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades
- Authors A) Corresponding author: Stefano Larsen; Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy B) Senior author: Steve Ormerod; Water Research Institute, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
- Geographic location of the study. Llyn Brianne Catchment, Central Wales, UK.
- Timescale of data: 1985-2018
- Type of data: -Stream invertebrate abundance, collected with standard methods from the Freshwater Biological Society. -Elaborated climatic and hydro-chemical data derived from Natural Resources Wales.
SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
- Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain
- Links to publications that cite or use the data: Stefano Larsen; Fiona Joyce; Ian P. Vaughan; Isabelle Durance; Jonathan Walter; Steve J. Ormerod. (2023). Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades. Global Change Biology.
DATA INFORMATION
Data tables in .csv format are included.
Dataset named 'bugs.long.imp.csv' reports the biological data and include three columns:
* CODE: Name code of the stream
* Year: year of collection
* Species: Taxonomic name of the species, or Genus, or Family.
* abund: number of collected individuals.
Dataset named 'LB_chem.season.imputed.csv' reports mean values of the hydro-chemical data and includes multiple columns:
* winter.year: the year of collection associated with the spring sampling of macroinvertebrates
* Season: the season (summer, winter)
* Site: name code of the stream (corresponding to CODE in the biological dataset)
* pH: pH
* Cond20C: water conductivity (uS/cm)
* N_Oxidised: Nitrogen concentration in oxidised form, as NOx (mg/l)
* Hardness: water hardness (mg/l)
* Alky_pH_4.5: alkalinity at pH of 4.5 (mg/l)
* Chloride_ion: concentration of Chloride ions (mg/l)
* Na_Filtered: Sodium concentration (mg/l)
* K_Filtered: Potassium concentration (mg/l)
* Mg_Filtered: Magnesium concentration (mg/l)
* Ca_Filtered: Calcium concentration (mg/l)
* Al_Filtered: Aluminium concentration (ug/l)
* Mn_Filtered: Manganese concentration (ug/l)
* Fe_Filtered: Iron concentration (ug/l)
Dataset named 'LB10_temperature.csv' reports air temperature (Celsius) values for winter, and include three columns:
* Winter.year: the year associated with the spring sampling of macroinvertebrates
* Site: name code of the stream (corresponding to CODE in the biological dataset)
* mean.w.T: the mean air temperature for the given year
Dataset named 'LB10_precipitation_w.csv' reports precipitation values for winter, and include the following columns:
* winter.year: the year of collection associated with the spring sampling of macroinvertebrates
* m.mean: mean daily precipitation (mm) for the winter months
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
European Commission