Aquatic insects emerging from streams are an important food source for riparian predators such as spiders. When streams are altered by human activities such as agriculture and urbanisation, these impacts can cross ecosystem boundaries, weakening the links between aquatic and terrestrial food webs. A new study, co-authored by Dr. Benjamin Kupilas from Ecologic Institute and an international research team, explores how these connections operate across landscapes and how they respond to human disturbance.

Landscape disturbance alters food web links

At the landscape scale, catchment disturbance reduced the availability of aquatic insects, indirectly weakening trophic links with riparian spiders. Yet woody riparian vegetation helped offset these impacts by supporting dispersing insect communities, even when shading limited algal growth. The study highlights the dual role of riparian buffers – simultaneously constraining in-stream productivity and enhancing cross-boundary energy flow.

Management implications: Riparian buffers as key landscape features

By facilitating the transfer of essential omega-3 fatty acids from aquatic to terrestrial systems, riparian buffers emerge as significant landscape elements for maintaining ecosystem connectivity. Protecting and restoring these vegetated corridors can help sustain biodiversity and maintain the functional connectivity that underpins healthy meta-ecosystems in a changing world.