Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Groundwaters host highly adapted fauna, known as stygofauna, which play a key role in maintaining the functional integrity of subterranean ecosystems. Stygofaunal niche studies provide insights into the ecological dynamics shaping the delicate balance between...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
WILEY
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP140100555 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80935 |
| _version_ | 1848764293042929664 |
|---|---|
| author | Saccò, Mattia Blyth, Alison Humphreys, W.F. Karasiewicz, S. Meredith, K.T. Laini, A. Cooper, S.J.B. Bateman, Bill Grice, Kliti |
| author_facet | Saccò, Mattia Blyth, Alison Humphreys, W.F. Karasiewicz, S. Meredith, K.T. Laini, A. Cooper, S.J.B. Bateman, Bill Grice, Kliti |
| author_sort | Saccò, Mattia |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Groundwaters host highly adapted fauna, known as stygofauna, which play a key role in maintaining the functional integrity of subterranean ecosystems. Stygofaunal niche studies provide insights into the ecological dynamics shaping the delicate balance between the hydrological conditions and community diversity patterns. This work aims to unravel the ecological trends of a calcrete stygofaunal community, with special focus on niche dynamics through the Outlying Mean Index analysis (OMI) and additional calculation of Within Outlying Mean Indexes (WitOMI), under three rainfall regimes. Temperature and pH changed significantly among different rainfall conditions (P <.001), and together with salinity were the most influential drivers in shaping stygofaunal assemblages. These environmental conditions, linked with nutrient fluctuations in the groundwater, constrained changes in niche occupation for water mites, two species of beetles and juvenile amphipods (OMI analysis, P <.05). The WitOMI analysis revealed differential subniche breadths linked with taxa-specific adaptations after different rainfall conditions. Our results indicate that stygofaunal niches are closely linked to the hydrodynamic conditions influenced by different rainfall regimes. Further long-term investigations, incorporating broader ecological perspectives, will help to understand the impacts associated with climate change and anthropogenic pressures on one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:17:03Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-80935 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:17:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-809352020-10-09T03:22:35Z Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia Saccò, Mattia Blyth, Alison Humphreys, W.F. Karasiewicz, S. Meredith, K.T. Laini, A. Cooper, S.J.B. Bateman, Bill Grice, Kliti Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Ecology Environmental Sciences Water Resources Environmental Sciences & Ecology stygofauna ecological niche groundwater calcrete rainfall WitOMI SUBTERRANEAN DIVING BEETLES GROUNDWATER RECHARGE RATES WATER MITES ACARI CLIMATE-CHANGE INVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS CHILTONIID AMPHIPODS HUTCHINSONIAN NICHE YILGARN REGION CHANGE IMPACTS © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Groundwaters host highly adapted fauna, known as stygofauna, which play a key role in maintaining the functional integrity of subterranean ecosystems. Stygofaunal niche studies provide insights into the ecological dynamics shaping the delicate balance between the hydrological conditions and community diversity patterns. This work aims to unravel the ecological trends of a calcrete stygofaunal community, with special focus on niche dynamics through the Outlying Mean Index analysis (OMI) and additional calculation of Within Outlying Mean Indexes (WitOMI), under three rainfall regimes. Temperature and pH changed significantly among different rainfall conditions (P <.001), and together with salinity were the most influential drivers in shaping stygofaunal assemblages. These environmental conditions, linked with nutrient fluctuations in the groundwater, constrained changes in niche occupation for water mites, two species of beetles and juvenile amphipods (OMI analysis, P <.05). The WitOMI analysis revealed differential subniche breadths linked with taxa-specific adaptations after different rainfall conditions. Our results indicate that stygofaunal niches are closely linked to the hydrodynamic conditions influenced by different rainfall regimes. Further long-term investigations, incorporating broader ecological perspectives, will help to understand the impacts associated with climate change and anthropogenic pressures on one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80935 10.1002/eco.2150 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP140100555 WILEY fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Ecology Environmental Sciences Water Resources Environmental Sciences & Ecology stygofauna ecological niche groundwater calcrete rainfall WitOMI SUBTERRANEAN DIVING BEETLES GROUNDWATER RECHARGE RATES WATER MITES ACARI CLIMATE-CHANGE INVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS CHILTONIID AMPHIPODS HUTCHINSONIAN NICHE YILGARN REGION CHANGE IMPACTS Saccò, Mattia Blyth, Alison Humphreys, W.F. Karasiewicz, S. Meredith, K.T. Laini, A. Cooper, S.J.B. Bateman, Bill Grice, Kliti Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia |
| title | Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia |
| title_full | Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia |
| title_fullStr | Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia |
| title_short | Stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: Deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in Western Australia |
| title_sort | stygofaunal community trends along varied rainfall conditions: deciphering ecological niche dynamics of a shallow calcrete in western australia |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Physical Sciences Ecology Environmental Sciences Water Resources Environmental Sciences & Ecology stygofauna ecological niche groundwater calcrete rainfall WitOMI SUBTERRANEAN DIVING BEETLES GROUNDWATER RECHARGE RATES WATER MITES ACARI CLIMATE-CHANGE INVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS CHILTONIID AMPHIPODS HUTCHINSONIAN NICHE YILGARN REGION CHANGE IMPACTS |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP140100555 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80935 |