Shifting taxonomic and functional community composition of rivers

Land use intensification has led to conspicuous changes in plant and animal communities across the world. We investigated taxonomic and geographic similarities in the composition of riverine fish and insect communities across gradients of land use in major hydrological regions of the conterminous US. This study points to reliable early-warning thresholds that accurately forecast compositional shifts in riverine communities to land use conversion, and highlight the importance of considering trait-based indicators of community change to inform large-scale land use management strategies and policies.

Chen, K., Midway, S., Peoples, B., Beixin, W., and J.D. Olden. 2023. Shifting taxonomic and functional community composition of rivers under land use change. Ecology 104: e4155. Article