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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Hydrology Affects Environmental and Spatial Structuring of Microalgal Metacommunities in Tropical Pacific Coast Wetlands

Juan MonrosCarmen RojoJavier ArmengolRubén PiculoMahmood SasaRicardo RuedaFrancesc Mesquita-joanesJosé Benavent-coraiFabián BonillaMatilde Segura

subject

0106 biological sciencesTopographyMarine and Aquatic Scienceslcsh:MedicineWetlandNicaragua01 natural sciencesGeographical locationsFloodingTropical climateMicroalgaelcsh:ScienceMultidisciplinarygeography.geographical_feature_categoryGeographyEcologyPlantsPlanktonPlanktonGeography551.48 HidrologíaSeasonsResearch ArticleFreshwater EnvironmentsWet seasonTropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forestsCosta RicaHidrologíaAlgaePacífico tropical010603 evolutionary biologySurface WaterAnimalsRelative species abundanceHydrologyDistance decayLandformsTropical ClimatePacific Ocean010604 marine biology & hydrobiologyEcology and Environmental Scienceslcsh:ROrganismsAquatic EnvironmentsBiology and Life SciencesGeomorphologyCentral AmericaInvertebratesWetlandsPhytoplanktonNorth AmericaEarth SciencesSpatial ecologylcsh:QHydrologyPeople and places

description

The alternating climate between wet and dry periods has important effects on the hydrology and therefore on niche-based processes of water bodies in tropical areas. Additionally, assemblages of microorganism can show spatial patterns, in the form of a distance decay relationship due to their size or life form. We aimed to test spatial and environmental effects, modulated by a seasonal flooding climatic pattern, on the distribution of microalgae in 30 wetlands of a tropical dry forest region: the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Three surveys were conducted corresponding to the beginning, the highest peak, and the end of the hydrological year during the wet season, and species abundance and composition of planktonic and benthic microalgae was determined. Variation partitioning analysis (as explained by spatial distance or environmental factors) was applied to each seasonal dataset by means of partial redundancy analysis. Our results show that microalgal assemblages were structured by spatial and environmental factors depending on the hydrological period of the year. At the onset of hydroperiod and during flooding, neutral effects dominated community dynamics, but niche-based local effects resulted in more structured algal communities at the final periods of desiccating water bodies. Results suggest that climatemediated effects on hydrology can influence the relative role of spatial and environmental factors on metacommunities of microalgae. Such variability needs to be accounted in order to describe accurately community dynamics in tropical coastal wetlands. Agencia Española de Cooperación y Desarrollo/[A1024073/09]/AECID/España Agencia Española de Cooperación y Desarrollo/[A/031019/10]/AECID/España Agencia Española de Cooperación y Desarrollo/[C/032994/10]/AECID/España Agencia Española de Cooperación y Desarrollo/[A3/ 036594/11]/AECID/España Universidad de Costa Rica/[741-B1-517]/UCR/Costa Rica UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP) UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de Microbiología

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2016-02-22
10.1371/journal.pone.0149505https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0149505