0000000000591339
AUTHOR
Bo-ping Han
Combination of linear and nonlinear multivariate approaches effectively uncover responses of phytoplankton communities to environmental changes at regional scale
The response of a community to environmental changes is either linear or non-linear, so that they can be investigated approximately by linear or nonlinear models. At community level, redundancy analysis (RDA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and Mantel test and Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling (GDM) are two pairs of fundamental multivariate approaches. Thus, it is necessary to determine how they are used for a given group of communities or a metacommunity. In the present study, we explored the applications of the two pairs of commonly used multivariate methods for the analysis of tropical phytoplankton communities. Phytoplankton were collected from 60 tropical reservoirs in s…
Comparing biological classifications of freshwater phytoplankton: a case study from South China
The use of ecological classification systems is becoming more and more widely used when studying phytoplankton. Grouping phytoplankton species into ecologically coherent groups allow to reduce redundancy and in this way, to handle a minor number of biological variables when investigating the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. Three ecological classifications are mostly used when freshwater phytoplankton is studied: functional groups or coda, morpho-functional groups (MFGs) and morphology-based functional groups (MBFGs). In this study, these three ecological classifications were comparatively used along with two taxonomic classifications based on species and genera to analyse phytoplan…
Spatial structure and β-diversity of phytoplankton in Tibetan Plateau lakes: nestedness or replacement?
Spatial patterns and β-diversity of phytoplankton assemblages depend on the relative importance of species dispersal capacity and species-sorting. Variability in species composition, composed by differences in species richness (nestedness) and/or species replacement, may be caused by niche availability and environmental selection. A field survey was carried out in Tibetan plateau on 38 lakes. Tibetan plateau lakes, located at high elevation, are harsh ecosystems characterized by low temperatures, low available nutrients, high UV amount, and strong salinity gradients. Only well-adapted species can survive in these environments. We therefore hypothesized that environmental filtering was the m…
Spatial heterogeneity of spring phytoplankton in a large tropical reservoir: could mass effect homogenize the heterogeneity by species sorting?
Reservoirs are river–lake hybrid ecosystems characterized by a marked longitudinal zonation and variable flushing rates depending on the use of stored waters. The structure of their phytoplankton is therefore subjected to the interplay between the environmental conditions of the different zones (species sorting) and the strength of the unidirectional flow (mass effect). The spatial distribution of spring phytoplankton was investigated in a tropical reservoir across its different zones. Phytoplankton displayed heterogeneous spatial patterns from the turbulent, nutrient-rich riverine zones to the relatively stable lacustrine zone. The analysis of this spatial heterogeneity revealed the relati…
Phytoplankton assemblages in a complex system of interconnected reservoirs: the role of water transport in dispersal
Phytoplankton in a complex network of reservoirs for drinking water supply was sampled in the dry and flood seasons to understand the role of dispersal through hydrochory and of environmental filters in determining the phytoplankton abundance and composition. The main assumptions tested in the present study are that (i) phytoplankton structure in these waterbodies is strongly dependent on the transportation with the river waters flowing through them and (ii) the importance of this stochastic transportation is decreasing as the connectivity with the river decreases allowing environmental filters to shape phytoplankton structure. The multivariate analysis showed that although phytoplankton wa…
The effects of absolute and relative nutrient concentrations (N/P) on phytoplankton in a subtropical reservoir
Abstract The elemental composition of phytoplankton is a critical factor for primary production and nutrient recycling. The increase anthropogenic nutrient input into freshwater ecosystems is affecting phytoplankton assemblage structure and its stoichiometry. Reservoirs of South China generally show low level of phosphate and it is not clear how phytoplankton can grow and occasionally bloom in such conditions. Therefore, an indoor experiment was conducted to investigate the response of natural phytoplankton communities to 25 levels of supplied nitrogen to phosphorus ratios (N/P), arising from the combination of 5 levels of N and P. Our aim was to check the effects of absolute and relative N…