Compositional breakpoints of freshwater plant communities across continents

Biogeographical transitions in plant communities

Autor/innen

  • Jorge García-Girón Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
  • Jani Heino Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
  • Lars Baastrup-Spohr Freshwater Biological Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 4, 2100 København Ø, Denmark
  • John Clayton National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, P.O. Box 11115, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Mary de Winton National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, P.O. Box 11115, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Tõnu Feldmann Estonian Environmental Research Centre, Vaksali 17a, 50410 Tartu, Estonia
  • Camino Fernández-Aláez Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, Campus de Vegazana, 24007 León, Spain
  • Frauke Ecke Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), P.O. Box 7050, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
  • Patrick Grillas Tour du Valat, Research Institute for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France
  • Mark V. Hoyer Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Institute of Food and Agricultural Services, University of Florida, 7922 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL 32609, USA
  • Agnieszka Kolada Department of Freshwater Protection, Institute of Environmental Protection‒National Research Institute, Krucza 5/11D, 00‑548 Warsaw, Poland
  • Sarian Kosten Department of Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • Balázs A. Lukács Wetland Ecology Research Group, Centre for Ecological Research, IAE, Bem tér 18/C, Debrecen 4026, Hungary
  • Marit Mjelde Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway
  • Roger P. Mormul Department of Biology, Research Centre for Limnology, Ichthyology and Aquaculture ‑Nupélia, State University of Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, Bloco H90, CEP-87020-900 Mringá, PR, Brazil
  • Laila Rhazi Research Center of Plant and Microbial Biotechnologies, Biodiversity and Environment, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, 4 avenue Ibn Battouta, B.P. 1014 RP, Rabat, Morocco
  • Mouhssine Rhazi Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Biology, Moulay Ismail University, PB 509, Boutalamine, Errachidia, Morocco
  • Laura Sass Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
  • Jun Xu Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430070, China
  • Janne Alahuhta Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland

Abstract

Unravelling patterns and mechanisms of biogeographical transitions is crucial if we are to understand compositional gradients at large spatial extents, but no studies have thus far examined breakpoints in community composition of freshwater plants across continents. Using a dataset of almost 500 observations of lake plant community composition from six continents, we examined, for the first time, if such breakpoints in geographical space exist for freshwater plants and how well a suite of ecological factors (including climatic and local environmental variables) can explain transitions in community composition from the subtropics to the poles. Our combination of multivariate regression tree (MRT) analysis and k-means partitioning suggests that the most abrupt breakpoint exists between temperate to boreal regions on the one hand and freshwater plant communities harbouring mainly subtropical or Mediterranean assemblages on the other. The spatially structured variation in current climatic conditions is the most likely candidate for controlling these latitudinal patterns, although one cannot rule out joint effects of eco-evolutionary constraints in the harsher high-latitude environments and post-glacial migration lags after Pleistocene Ice Ages. Overall, our study supports the foundations of global regionalisation for freshwater plants and anticipates further biogeographical research on freshwater plant communities once datasets have been harmonised for conducting large-scale spatial analyses.

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Veröffentlicht

2023-06-07

Ausgabe

Bd. 42 Nr. 2 (2023): Limnetica

Rubrik

SIBECOL-AIL Meeting in Aveiro-2022

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