Effects of land use and environmental gradients on the taxonomic and functional diversity of rotifer assemblages in lakes along the Yangtze River, China

Bibliographic Details
Title: Effects of land use and environmental gradients on the taxonomic and functional diversity of rotifer assemblages in lakes along the Yangtze River, China
Authors: Qidong Wang, Kai Feng, Xue Du, Jing Yuan, Jiashou Liu, Zhongjie Li
Source: Ecological Indicators, Vol 142, Iss , Pp 109199- (2022)
Publisher Information: Elsevier, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Ecology
Subject Terms: Functional traits, Land use, Lake morphology, Rotifer assemblages, Trophic states, Ecology, QH540-549.5
More Details: Anthropogenic pressures are the main drivers of freshwater biodiversity loss. Lakes can act as sentinels of both local and regional changes and experience increased anthropogenic disturbances. Functional traits have been developed to elucidate the consequential functional progression of community changes, yet only a few studies on rotifer functional approaches exist compared with other biotic community attributes. Here, we investigate the responses of rotifer taxonomic and functional diversity metrics to an environmental gradient representing changing lake morphology, land use and physicochemical conditions in 30 lakes along the Yangtze River, China. Based on the distinct lake morphological gradient, land use patterns and environmental conditions, the 30 lakes were clustered into three groups with decreasing anthropogenic stress from Group 1 to Group 3. Our findings indicated that both species and functional richness decreased from Group 1 to Group 3 and that functional richness exhibited better correspondence with multiple stressors than did taxonomic richness. Moreover, we found that the rotifer assemblages varied significantly among the three lake groups along land use and environmental gradients, and the community-weighted means (CWM) of trait expression of the corresponding communities changed simultaneously. Types of trophi and corona were considered as the most variable traits among the three lake groups. We highlight that trait-based approaches are more sensitive, responsive and informative than taxonomic approaches in indicating human-induced environmental alterations in freshwater ecosystems.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1470-160X
Relation: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22006719; https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160X
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109199
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/2ef1adad47194a60a7cd0d42a4fce96f
Accession Number: edsdoj.2ef1adad47194a60a7cd0d42a4fce96f
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:1470160X
DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109199
Published in:Ecological Indicators
Language:English