Human-induced pressures driving biodiversity and functioning o freshwater ecosystems.

Abstract

Many studies have shown that human-induced pressures are causing species loss across many trophic groups, with potential negative effects ability of ecosystems to maintain functions and provide services to human well-being. However, evidence for this prediction is still lacking in freshwater ecosystems. In this document, we report the results of four studies that investigated the effects of human-induced disturbance on (i) biodiversity, (ii) ecosystem functioning, and (iii) biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. These studies were conducted in different freshwater ecosystems and encompassed multiple spatial and temporal scales. In the first study, we used a 12-year data set from a shallow lake displaying shifts between three alternative states (clear, turbid and shaded). We investigated how the biodiversity (taxonomic and functional) of fish and zooplankton, ecosystem multifunctionality (provision of multiple ecosystems functions simultaneously) and their relationships were affected by shifts between alternative states. Biodiversity of fish and zooplankton and multifunctionality enhanced during clear-water state, but decreased during turbid and shaded states. The relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality was strongly positive during the clear state, but weakened after the lake shifted to turbid and shaded states. In the second study, we used a dataset of 72 lakes from four large Brazil wetlands to examine how increased human pressure (human footprint) affected the relationship between the biodiversity (taxonomic and functional) of seven groups of aquatic organisms and multifunctionality. The biodiversity of most organismal groups was positively associated with multifunctionality. However, increased human pressure has weakened these relationships, and for some groups these relationships have become negative. In the third study, we used a dataset of 61 streams from two Neotropical biomes (Amazonian rainforest, Uruguayan grasslands) to investigated how increased cover human land-uses (agriculture, pasture, urbanization and afforestation) affected the biodiversity (taxonomic and functional) of fish, arthropods and macrophytes, and the consequences of this for animal biomass production. In both biomes, the biodiversity of animal and plant assemblages decreased with increasing cover of land-uses. Land-uses reduced animal biomass through direct and indirect pathways mediated by declines in biodiversity. In the fourth study, we investigate how increasing human pressure affects fish diversity and the consequences of this for energy flux in fish food webs over 17 years in a subtropical river (Uruguay River). Human pressure was associated with temporal declines in diversity and energy flux in all fish trophic compartments, and the relationship between diversity and energy flux weakened over time. Collectively, these studies reveal that human-induced disturbances reduce the biodiversity of various groups of organisms in different types of aquatic ecosystems. The decline in biodiversity, in turn, reduces the ability of these ecosystems to sustain multiple functions.