Functional trait niches of North American lotic insects: traits-based ecological applications in light of phylogenetic relationships

Abstract The use of species traits to characterize the functional composition of benthic invertebrate communities has become well established in the ecological literature. This approach holds much potential for predicting changes of both species and species assemblages along environmental gradients in terms of traits that are sensitive to local environmental conditions. Further, in the burgeoning field of biomonitoring, a functional approach provides a predictive basis for understanding community-level responses along gradients of environmental alteration caused by humans. Despite much progress in recent years, the full potential of the functional traits-based approach is currently limited by several factors,…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UG
  U.S. Geological Survey
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada