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The structure and functionality of communities and food webs in streams along the epigean–hypogean continuum: unifying ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory of ecology

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Abstract

Subterranean streams represent unique heterotrophic ecosystems, usually supported by organic matter imported from the surface. Traditionally, the biological communities from subterranean streams were characterized as simple associations, with low diversity and species abundance, comprising mostly aquatic invertebrates connected by few trophic links compared with those of the surface. However, these features have not yet been described in the wider context of fluxes of energy and nutrients through food webs along a gradual switch from autotrophy (dominated by photosynthesis) towards heterotrophy (dominated by detritus) following the surface–subterranean continuum. Combining the most recent predictions of Ecological Stoichiometry and the Metabolic Theory of Ecology, this article provides a theoretical framework aiming to explain the patterns observed along the surface–subterranean continuum in streams. It is predicted that the main factors constraining the structure and functioning of communities and food webs are the decline in the quantity and diversity of basal resources along this gradient, along with nutrients availability in water that affects food quality. With increasing availability of dissolved nutrients in water, sinking-cave streams are hypothesized to fluctuate between being N and/ or P co-limited to C-limited. Combined, the quantity, quality, and diversity of basal resources regulate subterranean aquatic communities through bottom–up mechanisms, reflected in a decreased flux of macronutrients through food webs. The consequences of these bottom–up effects are decreased abundance, biomass, secondary production, consumption rate, and mean body size of communities, together with potential increases in the elemental imbalance for macronutrients, omnivory, trophic position, and niche width and overlap among aquatic consumers along the surface–subterranean continuum. The bottom–up effects induce changes in the topology of stream food webs, which become shorter, with lower trophic diversity at the base of the network, but increased connectance along this environmental gradient.

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Acknowledgements

The research was funded by the National Core Program–Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation Program, project 25 N/2019 BIODIVERS 19270103. We would like to thank three anonymous reviewers who were very helpful in shaping the final version of this article, through their comments, suggestions, and positive feedbacks.

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  1. Octavian Pacioglu, Alexandru Amărioarei and J. Iwan Jones have contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, Department of Bioinformatics, Splaiul Independenței 296, 060031, Bucharest, Romania

    Octavian Pacioglu, Alexandru Amărioarei, Corina Ițcuș & Andrei Păun

  2. National Institute for Research and Development on Marine Geology and Geo‑Ecology – GEOECOMAR, 23-25 Dimitrie Onciul Street, Bucharest, Romania

    Laura Tiron Duțu

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Biology, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, Bd. Carol I, 20A, 700505, Iași, Romania

    Gabriel Plăvan

  4. Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi, Bd. Prof. Dimitrie Mangeron 73, 700050, Iași, Romania

    Oana Plăvan

  5. Department of Research, Faculty of Biology, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, Bd. Carol I, 20A, 700505, Iași, Romania

    Ștefan-Adrian Strungaru

  6. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, UK

    J. Iwan Jones

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  1. Octavian Pacioglu
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Correspondence to Octavian Pacioglu.

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Pacioglu, O., Amărioarei, A., Duțu, L.T. et al. The structure and functionality of communities and food webs in streams along the epigean–hypogean continuum: unifying ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theory of ecology. Aquat Sci 83, 63 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-021-00815-6

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