Influence of environmental variability on taxonomic richness, the example of dissolved Rb/Sr ratio and benthic macroinvertebrates
The aim of this work is to make a contribution to the biodiversity/stability debate. The use of given parameters as indicators of biologic diversity and stability of the chemical composition of water, more specifically, the average number of macroinvertebrate taxons (according to the IGBN) and the variability (standard deviation expressed as a percentage) of the Rb/Sr dissolved ratio, allowed the determination of a significant negative correlation between these two indices. This relationship, based upon the results obtained from 36 sampling sites located on 22 rivers in the canton of Geneva (Switzerland), is interpreted as evidence of the negative impact of temporal variations in water quality on the number of macroinvertebrates species. Though relying upon reductive aspects of biodiversity and stability of ecosystems, it represents an example of the inverse relationship between instability and biologic diversity. Moreover, it tends to emphasize the advantage of using dynamic variations of chemical parameters rather than their absolute values in order to appreciate the loops and relationships occurring in natural ecosystems.