Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe
The lack of reliable data on length-mass relationships, essential to obtain accurate biomass estimates, limits our ability to easily assess secondary production by aquatic invertebrates. In the absence of published equations from similar habitat conditions, authors often borrow equations developed i...
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PeerJ Inc.
2024-12-01
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| author | Vladimíra Dekanová Marek Svitok Sara Bento João Caramelo Pedro Peixe e Sousa Bruno M. Carreira |
| author_facet | Vladimíra Dekanová Marek Svitok Sara Bento João Caramelo Pedro Peixe e Sousa Bruno M. Carreira |
| author_sort | Vladimíra Dekanová |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The lack of reliable data on length-mass relationships, essential to obtain accurate biomass estimates, limits our ability to easily assess secondary production by aquatic invertebrates. In the absence of published equations from similar habitat conditions, authors often borrow equations developed in geographic regions with different climate conditions, which may bias biomass estimates. A literature overview of published size-mass relationships for Portugal and Sweden highlights the need for further data within these biogeographic regions. We increased the number of equations available to Southern and Northern Europe, developing 18 new length-mass relationships for two families and 10 genera in Portugal and Sweden. All equations were published for the first time for these countries, except the genus Asellus. Our length-mass relationships were obtained from specimens collected on a one-time sampling of eight ponds in Portugal and five ponds in Sweden during late spring in 2023. Dry mass (DM) was modelled as a function of body length (BL), using the natural log-linear function with a power model (ln DM = ln a + b × ln BL). The equations obtained were compared with linear mixed models testing the fixed effects of “body length” and “country”, as well as their interaction. A comparison of the equations developed in this study showed country-specific differences for all taxa, expect the genus Caenis, indicating a low potential transferability of the equations between Southern and Northern Europe. In contrast, the comparison of the equation obtained for A. aquaticus in this study with an equation published for this taxon in Sweden showed great similarities, suggesting a high transferability. Recommending caution in the borrowing of published length-mass equations, that can differ drastically between different geographic and climatic regions, especially at larger sizes, we provide a series of guidelines and good practices in this field. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eb61358120d243aca83d93e7ee1e980f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| spelling | doaj-art-eb61358120d243aca83d93e7ee1e980f2025-08-20T01:58:04ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592024-12-0112e1857610.7717/peerj.18576Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern EuropeVladimíra Dekanová0Marek Svitok1Sara Bento2João Caramelo3Pedro Peixe e Sousa4Bruno M. Carreira5cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalDepartment of Biology and General Ecology, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, SlovakiacE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalcE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalcE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalcE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalThe lack of reliable data on length-mass relationships, essential to obtain accurate biomass estimates, limits our ability to easily assess secondary production by aquatic invertebrates. In the absence of published equations from similar habitat conditions, authors often borrow equations developed in geographic regions with different climate conditions, which may bias biomass estimates. A literature overview of published size-mass relationships for Portugal and Sweden highlights the need for further data within these biogeographic regions. We increased the number of equations available to Southern and Northern Europe, developing 18 new length-mass relationships for two families and 10 genera in Portugal and Sweden. All equations were published for the first time for these countries, except the genus Asellus. Our length-mass relationships were obtained from specimens collected on a one-time sampling of eight ponds in Portugal and five ponds in Sweden during late spring in 2023. Dry mass (DM) was modelled as a function of body length (BL), using the natural log-linear function with a power model (ln DM = ln a + b × ln BL). The equations obtained were compared with linear mixed models testing the fixed effects of “body length” and “country”, as well as their interaction. A comparison of the equations developed in this study showed country-specific differences for all taxa, expect the genus Caenis, indicating a low potential transferability of the equations between Southern and Northern Europe. In contrast, the comparison of the equation obtained for A. aquaticus in this study with an equation published for this taxon in Sweden showed great similarities, suggesting a high transferability. Recommending caution in the borrowing of published length-mass equations, that can differ drastically between different geographic and climatic regions, especially at larger sizes, we provide a series of guidelines and good practices in this field.https://peerj.com/articles/18576.pdfSize-weight relationshipsBiomassFreshwatersPortugalSwedenSecondary production |
| spellingShingle | Vladimíra Dekanová Marek Svitok Sara Bento João Caramelo Pedro Peixe e Sousa Bruno M. Carreira Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe PeerJ Size-weight relationships Biomass Freshwaters Portugal Sweden Secondary production |
| title | Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe |
| title_full | Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe |
| title_fullStr | Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe |
| title_short | Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe |
| title_sort | length mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between southern and northern europe |
| topic | Size-weight relationships Biomass Freshwaters Portugal Sweden Secondary production |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/18576.pdf |
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