Main predictors of periphyton species richness depend on adherence strategy and cell size
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2017
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Periphytic algae are important components of aquatic ecosystems. However, the factors
driving periphyton species richness variation remain largely unexplored. Here, we used data
from a subtropical floodplain (Upper ParanaĆ River floodplain, Brazil) to quantify the influence
of environmental variables (total suspended matter, temperature, conductivity, nutrient concentrations,
hydrology, phytoplankton biomass, phytoplankton species richness, aquatic
macrophyte species richness and zooplankton density) on overall periphytic algal species
richness and on the richness of different algal groups defined by morphological traits (cell
size and adherence strategy). We expected that the coefficients of determination of the
models estimated for different trait-based groups would be higher than the model coefficient
of determination of the entire algal community. We also expected that the relative importance
of explanatory variables in predicting species richness would differ among algal
groups. The coefficient of determination for the model used to predict overall periphytic algal
species richness was higher than the ones obtained for models used to predict the species
richness of the different groups. Thus, our first prediction was not supported. Species richness
of aquatic macrophytes was the main predictor of periphyton species richness of the
entire community and a significant predictor of the species richness of small mobile, large
mobile and small-loosely attached algae. Abiotic variables, phytoplankton species richness,
chlorophyll-a concentration, and hydrology were also significant predictors, depending on
the group. These results suggest that habitat heterogeneity (as proxied by aquatic macrophytes
richness) is important for maintaining periphyton species richness in floodplain environments.
However, other factors played a role, suggesting that the analysis of species
richness of different trait-based groups unveils relationships that were not detectable when
the entire community was analysed together.
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ALGARTE, Vanessa Majewski et al. Main predictors of periphyton species richness depend on adherence strategy and cell size. PLoS One, San Francisco, v. 12, e0181720, 2017. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181720. DisponĆvel em: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181720. Acesso em: 10 jan. 2023.