Community synchrony in aquatic macroinvertebrates is unrelated to environmental variability but differs among functional feeding groups.

Community synchrony in aquatic macroinvertebrates is unrelated to environmental variability but differs among functional feeding groups. | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 21 January 2026 V2 Latest version Share on Community synchrony in aquatic macroinvertebrates is unrelated to environmental variability but differs among functional feeding groups. Authors : Anthony Pignatelli 0009-0004-6532-7845 [email protected] and Tad Dallas Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175336610.04303266/v2 Published Ecology and Evolution Version of record Peer review timeline 368 views 194 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Environments are becoming increasingly more variable, as a function of climate change. As this occurs, species may be exposed to conditions outside their preferred range. Such variability in the environment can influence community abundance as individual species respond either similarly (synchronous dynamics) or differently (asynchronous dynamics) to each other. These fluctuations in abundances are important for understanding the impact of environmental variability on species temporal fluctuations in aquatic macroinvertebrates. This group of organisms is species-rich and highly sensitive to environmental fluctuations. We analyzed 18 stream macroinvertebrate communities sampled by the National Ecological Observatory Network between 2014 and 2022 to understand how community synchrony is related to stream temperature variability, discharge variability, and species turnover. We then quantified individual species contributions to community synchrony. These contributions were aggregated by functional feeding group to understand how resource acquisition strategies influenced species contributions. Species with higher contributions are often more synchronous with many other species. Here, community synchrony was expected to be negatively related to increasing environmental variability and turnover. Opposite our expectation, temperature variability, turnover, and discharge variability were unrelated to community synchrony. Contributions to community synchrony significantly varied among functional feeding groups. Scrapers had the highest proportion of taxa with significant positive contributions, followed by filterers. Shredders had the lowest proportion of species contributing to synchrony. Scrapers and shredders were significantly less synchronous from other functional feeding groups. This suggests that functional feeding group may explain patterns of community synchrony. Using a standardized, long-term dataset, we demonstrated how temperature variability, turnover, and functional feeding groups relate to community synchrony. While identifying the drivers of community synchrony remains challenging, integrating functional groupings provides an approach to identify species that drive community dynamics. Supplementary Material File (manuscript.pdf) Download 1.19 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 24 July 2025 V2 Version 2 21 January 2026 Peer review timeline Published Ecology and Evolution Version of Record 28 Jan 2026 Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords community ecology comparative freshwater invertebrate Authors Affiliations Anthony Pignatelli 0009-0004-6532-7845 [email protected] University of South Carolina System View all articles by this author Tad Dallas University of South Carolina View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 368 views 194 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Anthony Pignatelli, Tad Dallas. Community synchrony in aquatic macroinvertebrates is unrelated to environmental variability but differs among functional feeding groups.. Authorea . 21 January 2026. 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