Cascading impacts of urbanization on multitrophic richness and biomass stock in neotropical streams

Abstract

The conversion of natural streams to urbanized systems with the intention of supplying the cities' water demand causes species loss across many trophic groups, with negative consequences for ecosystem functioning. High levels of watershed urbanization cause environmental changes through water quality deterioration and loss of habitat heterogeneity. However, it remains unclear how environmental changes resulting from urbanization affect the diversity of multiple trophic groups and ecosystem functions, such as biomass stock in streams. Here, using a dataset from Neotropical streams, we investigate the cascading effects of urbanization (via impoverishment of water quality and habitat heterogeneity) on richness of multiple trophic groups of fish, and their consequences to biomass stock of streams. The increase in urbanization decreased the richness and standing biomass of carnivores, omnivores, and detritivores across streams. Urbanization also decreased habitat heterogeneity and water quality, which driver a huge cascading decrease in the richness of carnivores, omnivores, and detritivores, and ultimately reduced the whole-community standing biomass. Our analysis revealed that urbanization expansion induces a cascading reduction of multitrophic diversity and standing biomass in Neotropical streams. Therefore, the predicted increase in urbanization in the coming decades should impacts the richness of multiple trophic levels, with potential negative consequences to ecosystem functioning of streams.

Keywords: Biodiversity; Habitat heterogeneity; Human impacts; Land use; Trophic diversity; Urban ecology.