New paper in Oecologia!

A manuscript in early view (SEE IT HERE) in the journal Oecologia highlighting the importance of algal-based (autochthonous) resources to stream insects in high elevation tropical streams using stable isotopic analysis in conjunction with Bayesian mixing models. These results also suggest that aquatic invertebrates may be using resources based on both availability and the quality (as indicated by N:P) of the resources which both change as a function of elevation in these streams. These results are relevant to understanding how resource availability and food web structure may be altered in response to climate change. 

This paper was recommended by the Faculty of 1000! Here's the comment written by Luz Boyero: "Almost four decades on from the River Continuum Concept, the relative role of autochthonous (in-stream) vs. allochthonous (out-of-stream) material in fueling stream food webs and ecosystems is still under debate. The growing number of tropical studies has particularly provided new insights into this question. This paper shows how altitude is a key determinant of the relative abundance and quality of resources, and to what extent they are assimilated by stream insects, in tropical streams. A nice example of how climatic gradients are to be taken into account in order to understand how stream ecosystems function and how they are likely to respond to warming."