Biological trait structure of macroinvertebrate benthic communities

The faunal assemblage of a river ecosystem integrates the spatial and temporal variability of the habitat. Taxa with appropriate combinations of adaptations, concerning especially traits related to survival and reproduction use particular habitat types. Consequently, the synthesis of published autecological information on macroinvertebrate taxa can be used to demonstrate some of the environmental changes of an ecosystem. Mesohabitats were sampled in spring and autumn 1993 and 1994 in twelve study sites on Ist to 4th order streams in three river catchments located in the northeast of France. Sites were selected to exhibit high microscale heterogeneity. Affinities of taxa for modalities of biological traits and/or ecological strategies were described. The investigation of the relationship between traits and distributions of taxa can demonstrate some of the characteristics of both faunal community and environment and provide clear information on changes in biotopes across different spatial scales (mesohabitat, station, catchment basin). The benthic assemblage of each mesohabitat type displayed a specific combination of biological traits. Thus, taxa can provide insights about mesohabitat characteristics in terms of stability, diversity or trophic potentialities of their potential ecological niches.