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Dispersal syndromes can impact ecosystem functioning in spatially structured freshwater populations

View ORCID ProfileChelsea J. Little, View ORCID ProfileEmanuel A. Fronhofer, View ORCID ProfileFlorian Altermatt
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/485706
Chelsea J. Little
1Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
2Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
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  • For correspondence: Chelseajean.little@eawag.ch
Emanuel A. Fronhofer
1Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
2Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
3ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
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Florian Altermatt
1Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
2Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
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Abstract

Dispersal can strongly influence ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Besides the direct contribution of dispersal to population dynamics, dispersers often differ in their phenotypic attributes from non-dispersers, which leads to dispersal syndromes. The consequences of such dispersal syndromes have been widely explored at the population and community level, however, to date, ecosystem-level effects remain unclear. Here, we examine whether dispersing and resident individuals of two different aquatic keystone invertebrate species have different contributions to detrital processing, a key function in freshwater ecosystems. Using experimental two-patch systems, we found no difference in leaf consumption rates with dispersal status of the common native species Gammarus fossarum. In Dikerogammarus villosus, however, a Ponto-Caspian species now expanding throughout Europe, dispersers consumed leaf litter at roughly three times the rate of non-dispersers. Furthermore, this put the contribution of dispersing D. villosus to leaf litter processing on par with native G. fossarum, after adjusting for differences in organismal size. Given that leaf litter decomposition is a key function in aquatic ecosystems, and the rapid species turnover in freshwater habitats with range expansions of non-native species, this finding suggests that dispersal syndromes may have important consequences for ecosystem functioning.

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Posted December 04, 2018.
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Dispersal syndromes can impact ecosystem functioning in spatially structured freshwater populations
Chelsea J. Little, Emanuel A. Fronhofer, Florian Altermatt
bioRxiv 485706; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/485706
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Dispersal syndromes can impact ecosystem functioning in spatially structured freshwater populations
Chelsea J. Little, Emanuel A. Fronhofer, Florian Altermatt
bioRxiv 485706; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/485706

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