1
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Kiemel K, Weithoff G, Tiedemann R. DNA metabarcoding reveals impact of local recruitment, dispersal, and hydroperiod on assembly of a zooplankton metacommunity. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6190-6209. [PMID: 35869804 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the environmental impact on the assembly of local communities in relation to their spatial and temporal connectivity is still a challenge in metacommunity ecology. This study aims to unravel underlying metacommunity processes and environmental factors that result in observed zooplankton communities. Unlike most metacommunity studies, we jointly examine active and dormant zooplankton communities using a DNA metabarcoding approach to overcome limitations of morphological species identification. We applied two-fragment (COI and 18S) metabarcoding to monitor communities of 24 kettle holes over a two-year period to unravel (i) spatial and temporal connectivity of the communities, (ii) environmental factors influencing local communities, and (iii) dominant underlying metacommunity processes in this system. We found a strong separation of zooplankton communities from kettle holes of different hydroperiods (degree of permanency) throughout the season, while the community composition within single kettle holes did not differ between years. Species richness was primarily dependent on pH and permanency, while species diversity (Shannon Index) was influenced by kettle hole location. Community composition was impacted by kettle hole size and surrounding field crops. Environmental processes dominated temporal and spatial processes. Sediment communities showed a different composition compared to water samples but did not differ between ephemeral and permanent kettle holes. Our results suggest that communities are mainly structured by environmental filtering based on pH, kettle hole size, surrounding field crops, and permanency. Environmental filtering based on specific conditions in individual kettle holes seems to be the dominant process in community assembly in the studied zooplankton metacommunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Kiemel
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Guntram Weithoff
- Unit of Ecology and Ecosystem Modelling, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Ralph Tiedemann
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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2
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Assessing the Zooplankton Metacommunity (Branchiopoda and Copepoda) from Mediterranean Wetlands in Agricultural Landscapes. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15030362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Mediterranean wetlands are suitable ecosystems for studying metacommunity theory, since they are isolated ecosystems within a land matrix with well-established limits, often with watersheds destined for agricultural uses. The zooplankton community of wetlands in agricultural landscapes is the result of processes that operate in a different multiscale context. We selected 24 ponds in Alto Guadalquivir region (SE Spain) with different local environmental variables (biological, limnological and land uses). The zooplankton community of the wetlands under study consists of a total of 60 species: 38 branchiopods and 22 copepods. This community (total, branchiopods and copepods) was analysed through two different and complementary metacommunity approaches. The pattern approach determines the species distribution along environmental gradients, and the mechanistic approach considers the involved processes, such as environmental control and dispersal limitation. The results indicated a nested metacommunity, in which five limnological variables, three land uses and six spatial variables are the main drivers that explain zooplankton distribution in these wetlands. In conclusion, species sorting and dispersal processes play a role in the structuring of the zooplankton metacommunity. This conclusion has implications for the development of adequate management policies on Mediterranean wetland protection and diversity conservation in agricultural contexts.
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3
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Ganassin MJM, Muñoz-Mas R, de Oliveira FJM, Muniz CM, Dos Santos NCL, García-Berthou E, Gomes LC. Effects of reservoir cascades on diversity, distribution, and abundance of fish assemblages in three Neotropical basins. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 778:146246. [PMID: 33721650 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
River systems are characterized by the existence of longitudinal processes structuring fish assemblages. However, the construction of dams, many of them built in cascades, are disrupting these processes worldwide. Here, we analyzed the fish assemblages across reservoir cascades in three Brazilian river basins (Iguaçu, Paranapanema, and São Francisco) to identify whether there is a spatial convergent pattern and to infer the mechanisms structuring metacommunities in these Neotropical rivers. Linear models were used to assess the effect of reservoir cascades, and the associated morphological, spatial and environmental variables, on the species richness and diversity along them. We analyzed if reservoir cascades produce similar species distribution patterns using the elements of metacommunity structure framework and beta diversity and its components. Finally, super-organizing maps were used to find common trends in species abundances and the environmental, morphological, and spatial variables along cascades. The negative relationship between species richness and diversity and the position in the cascade indicated diversity declines along cascades. However, the resulting metacommunities varied in each river basin. They conformed a quasi-Gleasonian structure, a Clementsian structure, and a nested structure with stochastic species loss in the Iguaçu, Paranapanema, and São Francisco River basins, respectively. Generally, total beta-diversity (βsor) and species turnover (βsim) between pairs of reservoirs increased along reservoir cascades, especially at the downstream end, whereas nestedness (βsne) depicted distinct trends in each river basin. By contrast, there were general decreases in species abundances along cascades, especially downstream the fourth reservoir, with very few species benefiting from such situation. In general, species present in the downstream reservoirs were subsets of the species present in the upstream reservoirs (particularly in the São Francisco River Basin), while some had singular responses to the environmental gradient and appeared or disappeared at random. Although the cascade has an effect on fish assemblages, reservoir characteristics and operation also influence them. Our study highlights the impact of such structures and shows general patterns of fish assemblages that should help to mitigate the resulting ecological impacts and assist the process of infrastructure planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Julia Mileo Ganassin
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil; GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Rafael Muñoz-Mas
- GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Fagner Junior Machado de Oliveira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Carolina Mendes Muniz
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil; GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Natália Carneiro Lacerda Dos Santos
- Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca e Ciências Biológicas, Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Estadual de Santa Catarina, Laguna, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Emili García-Berthou
- GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Luiz Carlos Gomes
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil; Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Paraná, Brazil
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4
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Souza CAD, Beisner BE, Velho LFM, Carvalho PD, Pineda A, Vieira LCG. Impoundment, environmental variables and temporal scale predict zooplankton beta diversity patterns in an Amazonian river basin. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 776:145948. [PMID: 33647654 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The implementation of environmental monitoring programs in areas under anthropogenic pressure is essential to investigate the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity in ecosystems and to establish the most appropriate conservation strategies according to the area. We investigated whether environmental variables or temporal scale influenced zooplankton spatial diversity and beta diversity components in the Madeira River basin (Amazon tributary, Rondônia state, Brazil) from 2009 to 2015. We also investigated the local site contribution to overall beta diversity (LCBD) and to each of its components, to be able to propose conservation strategies more suitable for the river basin. Alpha diversity values decreased over time, while total beta diversity and the abundance difference component increased. A pattern of abundance difference (Podani family) dominated spatial beta diversity within the major sampling campaigns (at each time point). Environmental variables and heterogeneity, temporal scale (sampling campaigns), and also the dam installation contributed to variation in spatial beta diversity and its components. On the other hand, the flood pulse did not influence spatial beta diversity over time. Few sites contributed significantly to beta diversity prior dam installation, but most sites contributed significantly to beta diversity values at least at one point in time, in the post-dam phase. Thus, post-damming, all sites should continue to be monitored for conservation and restoration of zooplankton communities and biodiversity preservation, as changes are likely to still occur. Analysis of beta diversity, its components, and LCBD, are useful and efficient methods to study spatio-temporal changes in communities and identify critical sites. Impoundment and environmental variation significantly affect zooplankton community beta diversity, dependent on underlying mechanisms such as substitution or abundance differences that diversify communities spatially and temporally.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Beatrix E Beisner
- Département des sciences biologiques and Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire en Limnologie (GRIL), Université du Québec à Montréal, H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Luiz Felipe Machado Velho
- Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura - NUPELIA / Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais - PEA - Universidade Estadual de Maringá - Brazil; Universidade Cesumar de Ciência, Tecnologia e Informação (UniCesumar) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias Limpas - PPGTL/UniCesumar, 87050-390, Brazil
| | - Priscilla de Carvalho
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74690-900, Brazil
| | - Alfonso Pineda
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Comparada - PGB, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, 87020-900, Brazil
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Alves AT, Petsch DK, Barros F. Drivers of benthic metacommunity structure along tropical estuaries. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1739. [PMID: 32015384 PMCID: PMC6997391 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58631-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Community structure of many systems changes across space in many different ways (e.g., gradual, random or clumpiness). Accessing patterns of species spatial variation in ecosystems characterized by strong environmental gradients, such as estuaries, is essential to provide information on how species respond to them and for identification of potential underlying mechanisms. We investigated how environmental filters (i.e., strong environmental gradients that can include or exclude species in local communities), spatial predictors (i.e., geographical distance between communities) and temporal variations (e.g., different sampling periods) influence benthic macroinfaunal metacommunity structure along salinity gradients in tropical estuaries. We expected environmental filters to explain the highest proportion of total variation due to strong salinity and sediment gradients, and the main structure indicating species displaying individualistic response that yield a continuum of gradually changing composition (i.e., Gleasonian structure). First we identified benthic community structures in three estuaries at Todos os Santos Bay in Bahia, Brazil. Then we used variation partitioning to quantify the influences of environmental, spatial and temporal predictors on the structures identified. More frequently, the benthic metacommunity fitted a quasi-nested pattern with total variation explained by the shared influence of environmental and spatial predictors, probably because of ecological gradients (i.e., salinity decreases from sea to river). Estuarine benthic assemblages were quasi-nested likely for two reasons: first, nested subsets are common in communities subjected to disturbances such as one of our estuarine systems; second, because most of the estuarine species were of marine origin, and consequently sites closer to the sea would be richer while those more distant from the sea would be poorer subsets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreia Teixeira Alves
- Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia: Teoria, Aplicação e Valores, Instituto de Biologia & CIENAM, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Geremoabo s/n., Campus Ondina, CEP 40170-115, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
| | - Danielle Katharine Petsch
- Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupelia), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Francisco Barros
- Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia: Teoria, Aplicação e Valores, Instituto de Biologia & CIENAM, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Geremoabo s/n., Campus Ondina, CEP 40170-115, Salvador, BA, Brazil
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6
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Namba M, Hashimoto M, Ito M, Momota K, Smith C, Yorisue T, Nakaoka M. The effect of environmental gradient on biodiversity and similarity of invertebrate communities in eelgrass (
Zostera marina
) beds. Ecol Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mizuho Namba
- Graduate School of Environmental Science Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan
| | - Marina Hashimoto
- Akkeshi Marine Station, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere Hokkaido University Akkeshi Japan
| | - Minako Ito
- Graduate School of Environmental Science Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan
| | - Kyosuke Momota
- Marine Environmental Information Group Port and Airport Research Institute Yokosuka Japan
| | - Carter Smith
- Institute of Marine Sciences, UNC Chapel Hill Morehead City North Carolina
| | - Takefumi Yorisue
- Integrative Aquatic Biology, Onagawa Field Center, Graduate School of Agricultural Science Tohoku University Onagawa Japan
| | - Masahiro Nakaoka
- Akkeshi Marine Station, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere Hokkaido University Akkeshi Japan
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7
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Colossi Brustolin M, Nagelkerken I, Moitinho Ferreira C, Urs Goldenberg S, Ullah H, Fonseca G. Future ocean climate homogenizes communities across habitats through diversity loss and rise of generalist species. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:3539-3548. [PMID: 31273894 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 06/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Predictions of the effects of global change on ecological communities are largely based on single habitats. Yet in nature, habitats are interconnected through the exchange of energy and organisms, and the responses of local communities may not extend to emerging community networks (i.e., metacommunities). Using large mesocosms and meiofauna communities as a model system, we investigated the interactive effects of ocean warming and acidification on the structure of marine metacommunities from three shallow-water habitats: sandy soft-bottoms, marine vegetation, and rocky reef substrates. Primary producers and detritus-key food sources for meiofauna-increased in biomass under the combined effect of temperature and acidification. The enhanced bottom-up forcing boosted nematode densities but impoverished the functional and trophic diversity of nematode metacommunities. The combined climate stressors further homogenized meiofauna communities across habitats. Under present-day conditions metacommunities were structured by habitat type, but under future conditions they showed an unstructured random pattern with fast-growing generalist species dominating the communities of all habitats. Homogenization was likely driven by local species extinctions, reducing interspecific competition that otherwise could have prevented single species from dominating multiple niches. Our findings reveal that climate change may simplify metacommunity structure and prompt biodiversity loss, which may affect the biological organization and resilience of marine communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Colossi Brustolin
- Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Pontal do Paraná, Brazil
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Camilo Moitinho Ferreira
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Silvan Urs Goldenberg
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Hadayet Ullah
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Gustavo Fonseca
- Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, Brazil
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8
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A simulation-based framework to explore the importance of non-selection and selection processes in structuring ecological communities. Oecologia 2019; 190:535-545. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04441-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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9
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da Silva PG, Cassenote S. Environmental drivers of species composition and functional diversity of dung beetles along the Atlantic Forest-Pampa transition zone. AUSTRAL ECOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Giovâni da Silva
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia; Conservação e Manejo da Vida Silvestre; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; 31270-901 Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Sheila Cassenote
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal; Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Santa Maria Rio Grande do Sul Brazil
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Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Arribas P, Naselli-Flores L, Bennas N, Finocchiaro M, Millán A, Velasco J. Evaluating anthropogenic impacts on naturally stressed ecosystems: Revisiting river classifications and biomonitoring metrics along salinity gradients. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 658:912-921. [PMID: 30583186 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Naturally stressed ecosystems hold a unique fraction of biodiversity. However, they have been largely ignored in biomonitoring and conservation programmes, such as the EU Water Framework Directive, while global change pressures are threatening their singular values. Here we present a framework to classify and evaluate the ecological quality of naturally stressed rivers along a water salinity gradient. We gathered datasets, including aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages and environmental information, for 243 river locations across the western Mediterranean to: a) gauge the role of natural stressors (salinity) in driving aquatic community richness and composition; b) make river classifications by encompassing the wide range of environmental and biological variation exhibited by Mediterranean rivers; c) provide effective biomonitoring metrics of ecological quality for saline rivers. Our results showed that water salinity played a pivotal role in explaining the community richness and compositional changes in rivers, even when considering other key and commonly used descriptors, such as elevation, climate or lithology. Both environmental and biologically-based classifications included seven river types: three types of freshwater perennial rivers, one freshwater intermittent river type and three new saline river types. These new saline types were not included in previous classifications. Their validation by independent datasets showed that the saline and freshwater river types represented differentiable macroinvertebrate assemblages at family and species levels. Biomonitoring metrics based on the abundance of indicator taxa of each saline river type provided a much better assessment of the ecological quality of saline rivers than other widely used biological metrics and indices. Here we demonstrate that considering natural stressors, such as water salinity, is essential to design effective and accurate biomonitoring programmes for rivers and to preserve their unique biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Paula Arribas
- Grupo de Ecología y Evolución en islas, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, IPNA-CSIC, Av. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, 3, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
| | - Luigi Naselli-Flores
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Sezione di Botanica e Ecologia Vegetale, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Nard Bennas
- Laboratoire "Ecologie, Biodiversité et Environnement", Département de Biologie, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Tétouan, Morocco.
| | | | - Andrés Millán
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
| | - Josefa Velasco
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
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11
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Ruhí A, Datry T, Sabo JL. Interpreting beta-diversity components over time to conserve metacommunities in highly dynamic ecosystems. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2017; 31:1459-1468. [PMID: 28188969 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2016] [Revised: 01/12/2017] [Accepted: 02/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The concept of metacommunity (i.e., a set of local communities linked by dispersal) has gained great popularity among community ecologists. However, metacommunity research mostly addresses questions on spatial patterns of biodiversity at the regional scale, whereas conservation planning requires quantifying temporal variation in those metacommunities and the contributions that individual (local) sites make to regional dynamics. We propose that recent advances in diversity-partitioning methods may allow for a better understanding of metacommunity dynamics and the identification of keystone sites. We used time series of the 2 components of beta diversity (richness and replacement) and the contributions of local sites to these components to examine which sites controlled source-sink dynamics in a highly dynamic model system (an intermittent river). The relative importance of the richness and replacement components of beta diversity fluctuated over time, and sample aggregation led to underestimation of beta diversity by up to 35%. Our literature review revealed that research on intermittent rivers would benefit greatly from examination of beta-diversity components over time. Adequately appraising spatiotemporal variability in community composition and identifying sites that are pivotal for maintaining biodiversity at the landscape scale are key needs for conservation prioritization and planning. Thus, our framework may be used to guide conservation actions in highly dynamic ecosystems when time-series data describing biodiversity across sites connected by dispersal are available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Ruhí
- Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5402, U.S.A
- National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), University of Maryland, Annapolis, MD, 21401, U.S.A
| | - Thibault Datry
- IRSTEA, UR MALY, Centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 Rue de la Doua CS70077, 69626, Villeurbanne, Cedex, France
| | - John L Sabo
- Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5402, U.S.A
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5402, U.S.A
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12
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Ulrich W, Sewerniak P, Puchałka R, Piwczyński M. Environmental filtering triggers community assembly of forest understorey plants in Central European pine stands. Sci Rep 2017; 7:274. [PMID: 28325890 PMCID: PMC5428007 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-00255-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Habitat filtering models predict ecologically similar plant species to jointly colonize sites due to comparable environmental characteristics leading to an aggregated pattern of species spatial occurrence. Models focused on interspecific competition expect species with similar ecological requirements to be spatially segregated. While both models are corroborated by field work, few empirical studies have tried to infer under which habitat conditions these patterns of co-occurrence prevail. Here we use an exceptional data set on central European pine forest understorey plant communities to assess the change in community structure along gradients of soil productivity and heterogeneity. We found all understorey communities to be significantly nested. The degree of segregation increased with increasing soil Ca and Mg content, as well as with increasing pH, nutrient availability, and moisture. However, variability in soil characteristics did not significantly influence the pattern of species co-occurrence. We also found an intimate link between productivity, species richness, and species segregation making any causal inference challenging. These results point to possible misinterpretations and pitfalls in studies on community assembly. Finally our results demonstrate that managed forests provide a natural experiment of understorey community assembly under controlled conditions, an experiment that deserves further attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Werner Ulrich
- Chair of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, PL-87-100, Toruń, Poland.
| | - Piotr Sewerniak
- Department of Soil Science and Landscape Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, PL-87-100, Toruń, Poland
| | - Radosław Puchałka
- Chair of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, PL-87-100, Toruń, Poland
| | - Marcin Piwczyński
- Chair of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, PL-87-100, Toruń, Poland
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13
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Rodil IF, Lucena-Moya P, Jokinen H, Ollus V, Wennhage H, Villnäs A, Norkko A. The role of dispersal mode and habitat specialization for metacommunity structure of shallow beach invertebrates. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0172160. [PMID: 28196112 PMCID: PMC5308789 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Metacommunity ecology recognizes the interplay between local and regional patterns in contributing to spatial variation in community structure. In aquatic systems, the relative importance of such patterns depends mainly on the potential connectivity of the specific system. Thus, connectivity is expected to increase in relation to the degree of water movement, and to depend on the specific traits of the study organism. We examined the role of environmental and spatial factors in structuring benthic communities from a highly connected shallow beach network using a metacommunity approach. Both factors contributed to a varying degree to the structure of the local communities suggesting that environmental filters and dispersal-related mechanisms played key roles in determining abundance patterns. We categorized benthic taxa according to their dispersal mode (passive vs. active) and habitat specialization (generalist vs. specialist) to understand the relative importance of environment and dispersal related processes for shallow beach metacommunities. Passive dispersers were predicted by a combination of environmental and spatial factors, whereas active dispersers were not spatially structured and responded only to local environmental factors. Generalists were predicted primarily by spatial factors, while specialists were only predicted by local environmental factors. The results suggest that the role of the spatial component in metacommunity organization is greater in open coastal waters, such as shallow beaches, compared to less-connected environmentally controlled aquatic systems. Our results also reveal a strong environmental role in structuring the benthic metacommunity of shallow beaches. Specifically, we highlight the sensitivity of shallow beach macrofauna to environmental factors related to eutrophication proxies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iván F. Rodil
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
- Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Henri Jokinen
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Victoria Ollus
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Håkan Wennhage
- Havsfiskelaboratoriet, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Villnäs
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Alf Norkko
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
- Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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Heino J, Soininen J, Alahuhta J, Lappalainen J, Virtanen R. Metacommunity ecology meets biogeography: effects of geographical region, spatial dynamics and environmental filtering on community structure in aquatic organisms. Oecologia 2016; 183:121-137. [PMID: 27714463 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-016-3750-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2016] [Accepted: 09/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Metacommunity patterns and underlying processes in aquatic organisms have typically been studied within a drainage basin. We examined variation in the composition of six freshwater organismal groups across various drainage basins in Finland. We first modelled spatial structures within each drainage basin using Moran eigenvector maps. Second, we partitioned variation in community structure among three groups of predictors using constrained ordination: (1) local environmental variables, (2) spatial variables, and (3) dummy variable drainage basin identity. Third, we examined turnover and nestedness components of multiple-site beta diversity, and tested the best fit patterns of our datasets using the "elements of metacommunity structure" analysis. Our results showed that basin identity and local environmental variables were significant predictors of community structure, whereas within-basin spatial effects were typically negligible. In half of the organismal groups (diatoms, bryophytes, zooplankton), basin identity was a slightly better predictor of community structure than local environmental variables, whereas the opposite was true for the remaining three organismal groups (insects, macrophytes, fish). Both pure basin and local environmental fractions were, however, significant after accounting for the effects of the other predictor variable sets. All organismal groups exhibited high levels of beta diversity, which was mostly attributable to the turnover component. Our results showed consistent Clementsian-type metacommunity structures, suggesting that subgroups of species responded similarly to environmental factors or drainage basin limits. We conclude that aquatic communities across large scales are mostly determined by environmental and basin effects, which leads to high beta diversity and prevalence of Clementsian community types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jani Heino
- Natural Environment Centre, Biodiversity, Finnish Environment Institute, Paavo Havaksen Tie 3, P.O. Box 413, 90014, Oulu, Finland.
| | - Janne Soininen
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Janne Alahuhta
- Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland.,Freshwater Centre, State of Surface Waters, Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 413, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Jyrki Lappalainen
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Risto Virtanen
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Ecology, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland
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