Effects of Vertical Spatial Overlap on Phytoplankton Diversity under Experimentally Altered Lake Stratification Regimes

In phytoplankton communities, competitive exclusion might occur when functionally similar species are impeded from regulating their positions along light and nutrient gradients to reduce niche overlap. Greater spatial overlap ( ) between species due to water column mixing could thus promote competit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2021-11, Vol.9 (12), p.2447
Main Authors: Le Noac'h, Philippe, Ouellet Jobin, Vincent, Beisner, Beatrix E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Basins
Coexistence
Columnar structure
Competition
composition
diversity
Environmental factors
Experiments
Fluorometers
functional traits
Lake basins
Lakes
Life Sciences
Motility
Niche overlap
Phytoplankton
Plankton
spatial ecology
Stratification
Taxonomy
Thermocline
Water circulation
Water column
Water stratification
Zooplankton
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Summary:In phytoplankton communities, competitive exclusion might occur when functionally similar species are impeded from regulating their positions along light and nutrient gradients to reduce niche overlap. Greater spatial overlap ( ) between species due to water column mixing could thus promote competitive exclusion, reducing community taxonomic diversity. However, greater could also promote coexistence of functionally different taxa. Using data from a whole-lake experiment, we investigated the effects of and other relevant environmental factors on phytoplankton diversity across the water columns of lake basins with different thermocline manipulations. We estimated using an in situ fluorometer, and overall community diversity microscopically. Using structured equation models, we estimated directional relationships between phytoplankton diversity, , the lake physical structure and the zooplankton community. No significant effect of on phytoplankton taxonomic diversity was observed, but higher was associated with greater functional diversity. Change in lake physical structure and in the zooplankton community also affected diversity, with a negative response to increased top-down interactions. Overall, despite the fact that the alteration of water column stratification structure and top-down interactions were stronger drivers of phytoplankton diversity in our system, some effect of spatial overlap on the outcome of inferred competitive interactions were observable.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms9122447