Eutrophication and climate warming alter spatial (depth) co-occurrence patterns of lake phytoplankton assemblages

Pomati, Francesco; Matthews, Blake; Seehausen, Ole; Ibelings, Bas W. (2016). Eutrophication and climate warming alter spatial (depth) co-occurrence patterns of lake phytoplankton assemblages. Hydrobiologia, 787(1), pp. 375-385. Springer 10.1007/s10750-016-2981-6

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The composition and dynamics of plankton communities are critically affected by human-induced environmental changes. We analysed 33 years of phytoplankton monthly data collected in Lake Zurich (Switzerland), assigning organisms (genus level) to taxonomic groups (class, family), Reynolds associations and size categories. The aim was to understand how eutrophication and climate change have influenced taxa co-occurrence patterns within and between groups over the lake water column (14 depths, 0–135 m), using null-models to test for non-random spatial (depth) assembly. We found that the whole community showed high taxa co-occurrence levels, significantly deviating over time from random assembly concurrently with lake warming and reduced nutrient loading. This pattern was driven mostly by the depth structure of metalimnetic assemblages during summer and autumn. The prevalence of non-random spatial patterns changed for different taxonomic and functional groups, with only few significant deviations from null-model expectations. Within taxonomic and functional groups (particularly Classes and size categories), the frequency of spatial overdispersion of taxa decreased over time while the frequency of clustering increased. Our data suggest that the relative importance of mechanisms determining phytoplankton metacommunity dynamics have changed along with environmental gradients shaping water column structure.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Aquatic Ecology

UniBE Contributor:

Seehausen, Ole

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology

ISSN:

0018-8158

Publisher:

Springer

Language:

English

Submitter:

Marcel Häsler

Date Deposited:

03 Oct 2016 10:26

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:59

Publisher DOI:

10.1007/s10750-016-2981-6

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.89048

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/89048

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