Freshwater Biology最新文献

{"title":"Long-Term Environmental Change and Its Impact on Zooplankton Dynamics in Arctic Tundra Ponds","authors":"Vanessa L. Lougheed,&nbsp;Christian G. Andresen,&nbsp;Krysta Lehman,&nbsp;Mariana Vargas Medrano,&nbsp;Bryan A. Yu","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70216","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>\u0000 \u0000 </p><ol>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Lakes and ponds are abundant in the Arctic tundra. Global warming is altering these freshwater ecosystems, enriching the water column, increasing biomass of algae and plants, and having the potential to shift the composition, dominance, and timing of emergence and reproduction of zooplankton communities. Capitalizing on historic data collected in the 1970s, the goal of this study was to determine how zooplankton communities have responded to this environmental change over a 40-year period.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Environmental data and zooplankton assemblages from six Arctic tundra ponds near Utqiaġvik, Alaska (USA) were recorded weekly from mid-June to mid-August in 2010 to 2012 and compared to data collected from the same ponds in 1971 to 1973.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>The zooplankton community appeared to shift from one with high relative abundance of diaptomid copepods (from &gt; 70% to &lt; 25%, on average) to one with greater dominance by <i>Daphnia middendorffiana</i> (&lt; 24% to &gt; 25%) over a 40-year period. Changes in dominant species are likely attributable to warmer temperatures, increased food availability, as well as biotic interactions. Warmer spring temperatures were also associated with copepods reaching peak abundances earlier after overwintering. There were limited changes in species richness, although increased cover of vegetation expanding into the nearshore areas of the ponds likely led to increased abundance of plant-associated zooplankton and may have played a role in limiting dispersal among ponds, resulting in greater dissimilarity among ponds through time.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>These changes in zooplankton abundance, timing of emergence, and spatial distribution may have important impacts on other components of the Arctic food web, including algae, as well as upper trophic levels that depend on zooplankton for food. Given that unprecedented warming is occurring and will likely continue into the future, these unique and abundant aquatic ecosystems must continue to be observed to predict, understand, and model future alterations, as these systems play critical ecological and biogeochemical roles in the Arctic ecosystem.</li>\u0000 </ol>\u0000 \u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147708302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From Source to Mouth: Unveiling the Diversity and Distribution of the Smallest Eukaryotes in the Longest European River Using High-Throughput rRNA Gene Sequencing","authors":"Bogdan A. Kiriukhin,&nbsp;Dmitry G. Zagumyonnyi,&nbsp;Artem O. Belyaev,&nbsp;Alexander I. Tsvetkov,&nbsp;Andrey O. Plotnikov,&nbsp;Yuri V. Gerasimov,&nbsp;Denis V. Tikhonenkov","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70209","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70209","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>\u0000 \u0000 </p><ol>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Protist communities are key components of riverine ecosystems, making critical contributions to their structure and functioning. However, their distribution in riverine systems remains poorly studied.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>The Volga River, the longest river in Europe, has previously been investigated mainly using microscopy, which limits the resolution of protist community assessments. Here, we report the first description of the longitudinal distribution of planktonic protists in the Volga River using V4 18S rRNA gene metabarcoding, with amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) inferred via the DADA2 pipeline and taxonomic assignment against the PR2 database. Diversity patterns and their environmental drivers were assessed by modelling the Shannon diversity index using generalised least squares (GLS) modelling with stepwise variable selection. Beta-diversity analysis was performed based on Bray–Curtis dissimilarity and visualised using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and tested for significance with permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA).</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>We detected high eukaryotic diversity, spanning representatives of seven supergroups comprising 25 phyla. Alpha diversity was primarily associated with water transparency, which decreased downstream, and distance from the river source, while community composition was influenced by multiple environmental factors, although a substantial fraction of variation remained unexplained. Contrary to expectations, alpha diversity declined downstream, and the impact of the hydropower plant cascade on protist communities was negligible. The large number of unclassified ASVs highlights the considerable unknown phylogenetic diversity of riverine protists.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>These findings provide a comprehensive overview of protist diversity along the Volga River and highlight the importance of molecular approaches in uncovering cryptic biodiversity in large river systems. They also reveal general environmental patterns shaping protist communities along river gradients in highly regulated river systems, with implications for biodiversity studies in other major rivers.</li>\u0000 </ol>\u0000 \u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147708303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to ‘Relating Microplastic Contamination to Trophic Ecology of the Highly Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish and Eastern Mosquitofish’","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70222","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Coccia, C., C. Andolina, A. Cera, et al. 2026. “Relating Microplastic Contamination to Trophic Ecology of the Highly Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish and Eastern Mosquitofish” <i>Freshwater Biololgy</i>, 71, e70205, https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70205.</p><p>The reference to Balzani et al. (2021) was incorrectly listed in the reference list as:</p><p>Balzani, P., S. Vizzini, F. Frizzi, et al. 2021. “Plasticity in the Trophic Niche of an Invasive Ant Explains Establishment Success and Long-Term Coexistence.” Oikos 130(5): 691–696.</p><p>The correct reference should be:</p><p>Balzani, P., P. J. Haubrock, F. Russo, et al. 2021. “Combining metal and stable isotope analyses to disentangle contaminant transfer in a freshwater community dominated by alien species.” <i>Environmental Pollution</i>, 268, 115781.</p><p>We apologize for this error.</p>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fwb.70222","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147708203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life in the Limestone: Patterns of Copepod Taxonomic and Molecular Diversity in the Epikarst","authors":"Michal Rendoš,&nbsp;Andrea Desiderato,&nbsp;Dana Klímová Hřívová,&nbsp;Dagmar Haviarová,&nbsp;Maciej Karpowicz,&nbsp;Michał Grabowski","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70211","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>\u0000 \u0000 </p><ol>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>The epikarst, forming the uppermost layer of the vadose zone, is the interface between surface water and groundwater in karst aquifers, influencing hydrology and providing habitats for subterranean invertebrates. Epikarst invertebrates, including copepods, play important ecological roles. However, copepod taxonomic and molecular diversity in epikarst waters remains poorly understood. We examined diversity patterns and their relationship to environmental variation in epikarst seepage within the Demänová Karst, Slovakia.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Copepods were sampled monthly from May 2019 to July 2020, using 27 epikarst water filtering devices installed across four caves. Specimens were morphologically identified, largely to species level, and genetically characterised using mitochondrial COI barcode sequences. We quantified haplotype and nucleotide diversity, evaluated population structure, inferred demographic patterns and analysed relationships between environmental variables, copepod occurrence and assemblage composition.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Analysis of 536 copepod individuals revealed distinct mitochondrial lineages within <i>Elaphoidella</i> and <i>Bryocamptus</i> species. <i>Elaphoidella droppai</i> showed signals consistent with recent expansion, whereas <i>Elaphoidella phreatica</i> exhibited more complex demographic patterns. Environmental variables, particularly drip rate, pH and ceiling thickness were associated with variation in copepod occurrence and assemblage composition.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>These results indicate that variation in both hydrological and structural characteristics of the epikarst influences copepod assemblages. The occurrence of multiple mitochondrial lineages within several species further suggests that species diversity in epikarst copepods may be underestimated when based solely on morphology.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>By integrating ecological measurements with genetic data, this study refines understanding of how environmental gradients and demographic processes shape copepod assemblages in epikarst habitats. Our findings highlight the importance of environmental conditions for the occurrence and composition of groundwater communities and demonstrate that morphology-based assessments alone may underestimate copepod diversity.</li>\u0000 </ol>\u0000 \u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147708202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Species Matter: Aquatic Fungal Richness and Identity Enhances Recovery From Drying Events","authors":"Diana Graça,&nbsp;Isabel Fernandes,&nbsp;Rebeca Arias-Real,&nbsp;Fernanda Cássio,&nbsp;Cláudia Pascoal","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70210","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fwb.70210","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>\u0000 \u0000 </p><ol>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>The increasing human population growth raises water demand, while global change brings additional challenges, such as higher temperatures, nutrient enrichment and altered precipitation patterns. These shifts can lead to stream flow interruptions and eutrophication, which can affect biodiversity and disrupt stream ecosystem functioning. Aquatic fungi are key players in freshwater ecosystems, mainly due to their role in organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. Despite their importance, little is known about how aquatic fungal communities recover from environmental stress. This study aims to investigate the role of fungal diversity (species richness and identity) in the recovery of aquatic fungal communities following drying events, both alone and in combination with other abiotic stressors.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>We used a microcosm approach to simulate drying events and assess the recovery of aquatic fungal communities under four stress scenarios. Microcosms were exposed to increased temperature and/or nutrient levels throughout the entire experiment, including colonisation, drying and recovery phases. This resulted in four treatments: drying alone, drying with increased temperature, drying with increased nutrient levels and drying with both increased temperatures and nutrients. We also tested whether the presence of other fungal species affected recovery dynamics.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Fungal species exhibited different recovery capabilities, suggesting species-specific tolerance to a range of stress conditions. Across all treatments, overall recovery measured by their reproductive ability was delayed under abiotic stress. This delay indicates potential shifts in community composition, which could impair ecosystem functioning and reduce the potential for natural recovery.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>Our results showed that abiotic stress not only slows fungal recovery but also alters community dynamics, potentially reducing ecological stability. Moreover, the presence of certain fungal species facilitated the recovery of others, emphasising the role of fungal interactions in enhancing community resilience.</li>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <li>This study is among the first to highlight the importance of aquatic fungal biodiversity and species complementarity in buffering freshwater ecosystems against abiotic stress. By demonstrating that higher fungal diversity enhances recovery and supports ecosystem functioning under stress, it reinforces the importance of biodiversity conservation and the management of freshwater ecosystems in a changing world.</li>\u0000 </ol>\u0000 \u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147696389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dry and Exposed: Effects of Riparian Vegetation on Abiotic and Biotic Characteristics of Intermittent Streams","authors":"Michal Straka,&nbsp;David Výravský,&nbsp;Barbora Loskotová,&nbsp;Petr Pařil,&nbsp;Marek Polášek","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70212","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fwb.70212","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000 \u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fwb.70212","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147696390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental Filtering of Leaf Traits, Spectral and Genetic Variation in Phragmites australis: Responses and Spatial Patterns","authors":"Alice Dalla Vecchia,&nbsp;Maria Beatrice Castellani,&nbsp;Erika Piaser,&nbsp;Carla Lambertini,&nbsp;Lorenzo Lastrucci,&nbsp;Andrea Coppi,&nbsp;Paolo Villa,&nbsp;Rossano Bolpagni","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70207","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fwb.70207","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000 \u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fwb.70207","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147696372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hidden Resilience: How Resting Egg Banks Shape Zooplankton Diversity Across Salinity Gradients in Neighbouring Lakes","authors":"Tatiana Lopatina,&nbsp;Ksenia Khoroshko,&nbsp;Egor Zadereev","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70202","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fwb.70202","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Resting egg banks are crucial for the restoration and stability of zooplankton communities in aquatic ecosystems. In geographically adjacent lakes with varying salinities, bottom sediments harbour resting eggs of species adapted to different salinities, which can enhance the stability and functioning of the zooplankton metacommunity amid changing environmental conditions.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;To evaluate the capacity of resting egg banks to restore and sustain zooplankton communities under fluctuating salinities, we compared zooplankton diversity across four closely located lakes with salinities of 0.9 g L&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;, 2.3 g L&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;, 3.4 g L&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;, and 5.1 g L&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;. We conducted a series of experiments using resting eggs collected from the bottom sediments of these lakes, placing eggs from each lake into each of the four salinity treatments. We then compared the diversity of resulting zooplankton communities with natural communities and between lakes.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;The species diversity of zooplankton in natural samples was not consistently lower than that derived from resting egg banks. In two small, fishless, nutrient-rich lakes, the diversity of zooplankton established from resting eggs exceeded that of natural communities. Conversely, in larger lakes with fish populations, natural samples exhibited greater diversity than those from resting eggs. The maximum species diversity of zooplankton established from resting eggs occurred at salinities corresponding to those of the originating lakes. Furthermore, increasing salinity (salinization) adversely affected zooplankton communities derived from less saline lakes—resulting in decreased species diversity, biomass, and ability to control phytoplankton abundance—more than decreasing salinity (desalinization) affected communities from more saline lakes. Notably, zooplankton communities formed at similar salinities from different lakes displayed distinct differences. The highest species diversity was recorded in natural samples from the largest and least saline lake, as well as in the zooplankton community established from resting eggs from the smallest lake and one exhibiting significant water level variability over recent decades.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;These results show that the species diversity of both active and resting stages of zooplankton in geographically proximate lakes with differing salinities can significantly overlap due to resting egg banks. Additionally, factors such as lake size, trophic status, and food web structure are also associated with the species diversity of active zooplankton. Importantly, even a small lake perceived to have low ecological and economic value—such as a nutrient-polluted fishless lake—can serve as a reservoir of hidden biodiversity within its resting egg ba","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147696273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Waterbirds and Other Drivers of Endoparasite Communities Across a Hierarchy of Spatial Scales","authors":"Sarah Nichols,&nbsp;Paolo Ruggeri,&nbsp;Henrietta Pringle,&nbsp;Gavin Siriwardena,&nbsp;Hanna Hartikainen,&nbsp;Beth Okamura","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70201","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fwb.70201","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000 \u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/fwb.70201","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147696354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Gradient of Wildlife Subsidies Alters Riverine Food Web Structure","authors":"Therese C. Frauendorf,&nbsp;Anna Reside,&nbsp;Christopher L. Dutton,&nbsp;Laban Njoroge,&nbsp;Edward Njagi,&nbsp;Emma J. Rosi,&nbsp;David M. Post,&nbsp;Amanda L. Subalusky","doi":"10.1111/fwb.70208","DOIUrl":"10.1111/fwb.70208","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Terrestrial subsidies play a key role in freshwater food web structure and ecosystem function. Animal-mediated subsidies in particular provide high quality resources that shape aquatic food webs. We know little about how the magnitude of wildlife subsidies affects food web structure and stability, and how this relationship is affected by abiotic factors such as river flow. We use a wildlife subsidy gradient (hippo dung and wildebeest carcasses) in the Mara River, Kenya, to quantify the effect of subsidy magnitude on consumer use of allochthonous resources and degree of omnivory. Furthermore, we examined this relationship across seasons and flow rates to determine whether discharge affected the relationship between wildlife subsidy magnitude and allochthonous resource use.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;We selected three sites along the Mara River wildlife gradient with no, medium, and high wildlife input and obtained stable isotopes from dominant basal resources and consumers across invertebrate functional feeding groups and fish feeding guilds. Samples were collected across varying flows and seasons. We used Bayesian mixing models, with consumer gut contents as priors, to assess changes in the consumption and assimilation of dominant food sources by invertebrate and fish consumers across the subsidy gradient and flow rates.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;The Mara River food web shifted from being driven by autochthonous basal resources to being increasingly driven by allochthonous resources along the wildlife subsidy gradient. Aquatic insects and fish increased their allochthonous resource use from 27% to 52% and from 2% to 73.5%, respectively, mostly through increased consumption of hippo dung and vertebrate material during the wildebeest migration season. This diet shift led to a higher level of omnivory and a decrease in mean trophic position for invertebrates. River flow affected isotope values of consumers but not their resources at the no and medium wildlife input sites. Flow had little impact on stable isotopes at the high input site.&lt;/li&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;li&gt;Our results suggest that wildlife input provides an important resource for aquatic consumers and that its importance in the aquatic food web increases with its relative magnitude. Higher levels of animal-mediated subsidies also increased consumer reliance on multiple resource pathways, suggesting higher wildlife input may increase food web stability. Abiotic factors like river flow can affect the relationship between allochthonous resource use and consumers by altering the quantity of wildlife input, but our results suggest that this is only the case when there is medium to no wildlife input. We propose that in areas with high wildlife input, subsidies are sufficiently abundant that flow has little effect on the ability of organisms ","PeriodicalId":12365,"journal":{"name":"Freshwater Biology","volume":"71 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147696332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}