Spatial and temporal community structure of desmids on a small spatial scale

Besides spatial heterogeneity, another important component of the diversity of protist communities is the variation in species assemblages through time. Despite its importance, temporal turnover of benthic communities has been studied to a lesser extent than spatial heterogeneity has. In this study,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2014-01, Vol.722 (1), p.291-303
Main Authors: Svoboda, Pavel, Kulichová, Jana, Št’astný, Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Aquatic ecosystems
Benthic communities
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Community composition
Community ecology
Community structure
Ecology
Environmental conditions
Environmental effects
Environmental factors
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Heterogeneity
Life Sciences
Primary Research Paper
Species composition
Zoology
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Summary:Besides spatial heterogeneity, another important component of the diversity of protist communities is the variation in species assemblages through time. Despite its importance, temporal turnover of benthic communities has been studied to a lesser extent than spatial heterogeneity has. In this study, we examine the desmid assemblages on small spatial scale in relation to the spatial, temporal, and environmental parameters. The samples were collected within two different types of peatland localities in the Czech Republic over 3 years. The differences in species composition between samples were mainly correlated with the geographic distance, while the effects of the environmental and temporal variables were much weaker. Since the spatial heterogeneity of the assemblages was not induced by the variation of the environmental factors or by the restricted dispersal ability at such a small spatial scale, we assume that both the temporal stability and strong spatial autocorrelation might have been the result of a priority effect, with subsequent monopolization of resources. Stochasticity in colonization can introduce noise into the match between community composition and environmental conditions, which may result in stronger effect of the spatial parameters on the community structure.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-013-1713-4