Do priority effects outweigh environmental filtering in a guild of dominant freshwater macroinvertebrates?

Abstract

Abiotic conditions have long been considered essential in structuring fresh-water macroinvertebrate communities. Ecological drift, dispersal and biotic interactions also structure communities, and although these mechanisms are more difficult to detect, they may be of equal importance in natural communities. Here, we hypothesized that in 10 naturally replicated headwater streams in eastern Switzerland, locally dominant amphipod species would be associated with differences in environmental conditions. We conducted repeated surveys of am Show more