Sotomayor Gonzalo, Romero Jorge, Ballari Daniela, Vázquez Raúl F, Ramírez-Morales Iván, Hampel Henrietta, Galarza Xavier, Montesinos Bolívar, Forio Marie Anne Eurie, Goethals Peter L M
Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Av. 12 de abril S/N, Cuenca, Azuay 010203, Ecuador.
Biology (Basel). 2023 Mar 20;12(3):473. doi: 10.3390/biology12030473.
Genera and species of Elmidae (riffle beetles) are sensitive to water pollution; however, in tropical freshwater ecosystems, their requirements regarding environmental factors need to be investigated. Species distribution models (SDMs) were established for five elmid genera in the Paute river basin (southern Ecuador) using the Random Forest (RF) algorithm considering environmental variables, i.e., meteorology, land use, hydrology, and topography. Each RF-based model was trained and optimised using cross-validation. Environmental variables that explained most of the Elmidae spatial variability were land use (i.e., riparian vegetation alteration and presence/absence of canopy), precipitation, and topography, mainly elevation and slope. The highest probability of occurrence for elmids genera was predicted in streams located within well-preserved zones. Moreover, specific ecological niches were spatially predicted for each genus. was predicted in the lower and forested areas, with high precipitation levels, towards the Amazon basin. was predicted to be in the upper parts of the basin, i.e., páramo ecosystems, with an excellent level of conservation of their riparian ecosystems. and were also predicted in the upper parts of the basin but in more widespread elevation ranges, in the case, and even in some areas with a medium level of anthropisation. was predicted to be in the mid-region of the study basin in high altitudinal streams with a high degree of meandering. The main findings of this research are likely to contribute significantly to local conservation and restoration efforts being implemented in the study basin and could be extrapolated to similar eco-hydrological systems.
溪泥甲科（ riffle beetles）的属和种对水污染敏感；然而，在热带淡水生态系统中，它们对环境因素的要求有待研究。利用随机森林（RF）算法，考虑气象、土地利用、水文和地形等环境变量，为厄瓜多尔南部帕乌特河流域的五个溪泥甲属建立了物种分布模型（SDMs）。每个基于RF的模型都使用交叉验证进行了训练和优化。解释溪泥甲科空间变异性的主要环境变量是土地利用（即河岸植被变化和树冠的有无）、降水和地形，主要是海拔和坡度。预测溪泥甲属在保存完好区域内的溪流中出现的概率最高。此外，还对每个属的特定生态位进行了空间预测。预测在向亚马逊流域的低海拔和森林地区，降水水平较高的区域。预测在流域的上部，即帕拉莫生态系统中，其河岸生态系统得到了很好的保护。和也预测在流域的上部，但海拔范围更广，在的情况下，甚至在一些人为干扰中等程度的地区。预测在研究流域中部高海拔、曲流程度高的溪流中。本研究的主要发现可能会对研究流域正在实施的当地保护和恢复工作做出重大贡献，并可推广到类似的生态水文系统。
