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Eutrophication homogenizes shallow lake macrophyte assemblages over space and time
Salgado, J Sayer, CD Brooks, SJ Davidson, TA Goldsmith, B Patmore, IR Baker, AG
Salgado, J
Sayer, CD
Brooks, SJ
Davidson, TA
Goldsmith, B
Patmore, IR
Baker, AG
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2018-09-11
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2019-03-01
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assemblage heterogeneity
hydrological connectivity
lake isolation
landscape ecology
metacommunity
paleolimnology
spatial variation
temporal variation
zebra mussel
hydrological connectivity
lake isolation
landscape ecology
metacommunity
paleolimnology
spatial variation
temporal variation
zebra mussel
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Abstract
Eutrophication is commonly implicated in the reduction in macrophyte species richness in
shallow lakes. However, the extent to which other more nuanced measures of macrophyte diversity, such
as assemblage heterogeneity, are impacted concurrently by eutrophication over space and time and the
joint influences of other factors (e.g., species invasions and connectivity) remains relatively poorly documented. Using a combination of contemporary and paleoecological data, we examine how eutrophication
influences macrophyte assemblage heterogeneity and how nutrient enrichment interacts with watercourse
connectivity, lake surface area, and relative zebra mussel abundance over space (within and among lakes)
and time (decades to centuries) at the landscape scale. The study system is the Upper Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, UK, which is composed of a large main lake and several smaller satellite lakes that vary in their
hydrological connectivity to the main lake. By applying homogeneity analysis of multivariate dispersions
and partial redundancy analysis, we demonstrate that contemporary lake macrophyte heterogeneity and
species richness are reduced in lakes with intensified eutrophication but are increased in lakes with greater
zebra mussel abundance and lake surface area. Watercourse connectivity positively influenced assemblage
heterogeneity and explained larger proportions of the variation in assemblage heterogeneity than local
environmental factors, whereas variation in species richness was better related to local abiotic factors.
Macrophyte fossil data revealed within- and among-lake assemblage homogenization post-1960, with the
main lake and connected sites showing the highest rates of homogenization due to progressive eutrophication. The long-term and contemporary data collectively indicate that eutrophication reduces assemblage
heterogeneity over time by overriding the importance of regional processes (e.g., connectivity) and exerts
stronger pressure on isolated lakes. Our results suggest further that in connected lake systems, assemblage
heterogeneity may be impacted more rapidly by eutrophication than species richness. This means that
early effects of eutrophication in many systems may be underestimated by monitoring that focuses solely
on species richness and is not performed at adequate landscape scales.
Citation
: Salgado, J., C. D. Sayer, S. J. Brooks, T. A. Davidson, B. Goldsmith, I. R. Patmore, A. G. Baker, and B. Okamura. 2018. Eutrophication homogenizes shallow lake macrophyte assemblages over space and time. Ecosphere 9(9):e02406. 10.1002/ecs2.2406
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© 2018 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The attached file is the published version of the article.
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2150-8925
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openAccess