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Community phylogenetic structure reveals the imprint of dispersal-related dynamics and environmental filtering by nutrient availability in freshwater diatoms.

ABSTRACT: Despite important progress, uncertainty persists regarding the ecological forces driving microbial community assembly. Here, we present the first study to use phylogenetic information to interpret the structure and diversity of diatom communities. We examined local phylogenetic divergence and beta- phylogenetic diversity in a large dataset of 595 freshwater benthic diatom communities and we investigated how this diversity is influenced by gradients in nutrients, pH, organic matter and catchment size. Overall, we found that diatom communities were phylogenetically clustered, i.e. species within communities were more closely related than expected by chance. Phylogenetic clustering was stronger in nutrient-poor environments and in sites with a small catchment area. The variation of the phylogenetic beta-diversity index was much better explained by space and environment than the variation of the taxonomic index was. Both approaches detected a significant effect of environment and space on diatom community turnover. Our results support the view that diatom communities are primarily shaped by environmental filtering, in particular by nutrient availability. Moreover, they highlight the importance of considering dispersal-related processes and the depth of phylogenetic signal in functional traits when interpreting patterns of diversity.

SUBMITTER: Keck F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6691006 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Community phylogenetic structure reveals the imprint of dispersal-related dynamics and environmental filtering by nutrient availability in freshwater diatoms.

Keck François F Kahlert Maria M

Scientific reports 20190812 1

Despite important progress, uncertainty persists regarding the ecological forces driving microbial community assembly. Here, we present the first study to use phylogenetic information to interpret the structure and diversity of diatom communities. We examined local phylogenetic divergence and beta- phylogenetic diversity in a large dataset of 595 freshwater benthic diatom communities and we investigated how this diversity is influenced by gradients in nutrients, pH, organic matter and catchment ...[more]

PMID: 31406160

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Project description:AimThe mechanisms underlying the maintenance of biodiversity remain to be elucidated. Taxonomic diversity alone remains an unresolved issue, especially in terms of the mechanisms of species co-existence. We hypothesized that phylogenetic information could help to elucidate the mechanism of community assembly and the services and functions of ecosystems. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms driving floral diversity in subtropical forests and evaluate the relative effects of these mechanisms on diversity variation, by combining taxonomic and phylogenetic information.LocationWe examined 35 1-ha tree stem-mapped plots across eight national nature reserves in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.TaxonTrees.MethodsWe quantified the taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity between each pair of plots using the (abundance-based) Rao's quadratic entropy and the (incidence-based) Sørensen dissimilarity indices. Using a null model approach, we compared the observed β-diversity with the expected diversity at random and calculated the standard effect size of the observed β-diversity deviation. Furthermore, we used distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) to partition the variations in taxonomic and phylogenetic observed β-diversity and β-deviation into four parts to assess the environmental and spatial effects.ResultsThe taxonomic β-deviation was related to and higher than the phylogenetic β-deviation (r = .74). This indicated that the species turnover between pairwise plots was mainly the turnover of closely related species. Higher taxonomic and phylogenetic β-deviation were mainly concentrated in the pairwise karst and nonkarst forest plots, indicating that the species in karst forests and nonkarst forests were predominantly from distantly related clades. A large proportions of the variation in taxonomic and phylogenetic β-deviation were explained by the joint effect of environmental and spatial variables, while the contribution of environmental variables was greater than that of spatial variables, probably owing to the influence of the sampling scale dependence, integrality of sampling size and species pool, and the unique climatic and geomorphic characteristics.Main conclusionsOur study highlights the importance of phylogeny in biodiversity research. The incorporation of taxonomic and phylogenetic information provides a perspective to explore potential underlying mechanisms that have shaped species assemblages and phylogenetic patterns in biodiversity hotspots.

Dataset Information

Community phylogenetic structure reveals the imprint of dispersal-related dynamics and environmental filtering by nutrient availability in freshwater diatoms.

Publications

Community phylogenetic structure reveals the imprint of dispersal-related dynamics and environmental filtering by nutrient availability in freshwater diatoms.

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