Contrasting responses of terrestrial and aquatic consumers in riparian – stream networks to local and landscape level drivers of environmental change

The biodiversity of streams and riparian zones is highly interlinked by multiple cross-habitat flows organisms, nutrients materials, are thus increasingly recognized as forming an extended “meta-ecosystem” network spanning both within across entire catchments. However, current understanding how these networks respond to environmental change limited the lack studies quantifying local larger-scale drivers in terrestrial aquatic systems simultaneously. Using high-resolution species data from eight boreal – stream meta-ecosystems, half which were situated forest agricultural catchments, we quantified land-use impacts importance catchment (riparian, instream) scale variables on diversity community composition three epigeal arthropod groups (spiders staphylinid carabid beetles) macroinvertebrates. All four organism responded quantifiable variables. Staphylinid beetle spider assemblages differed significantly between forested sites strongly correlated with such vegetation type soil properties, but also instream conductivity floating macrophytes. By contrast, macroinvertebrate did not differ showed similar responses Our results indicate that measures only address might be ineffective if catchment-scale regulating linkages adequately addressed ecosystem management.