Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds
Despite the large number of ponds scattered across the landscape, there is still insufficient recognition of their functioning. This would require the development of methods for assessing this type of aquatic ecosystem, based on their environmental specificity. Even though conditions are potentially...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21004945 |
| _version_ | 1819039530188013568 |
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| author | Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen Maria Špoljar Mirosław Mleczek Chen Zhang |
| author_facet | Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen Maria Špoljar Mirosław Mleczek Chen Zhang |
| author_sort | Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the large number of ponds scattered across the landscape, there is still insufficient recognition of their functioning. This would require the development of methods for assessing this type of aquatic ecosystem, based on their environmental specificity. Even though conditions are potentially homogenic in small and shallow water bodies, macrophytes divide the area into diverse microhabitats. Therefore, we hypothesized that the type of habitat (the open water vs. various macrophytes) may have a considerable structuring effect on functional groups, such as life-forms (pelagic and littoral) or trophic-associated rotifers, confirming their great suitability for environmental studies. Sixty three ponds, with 136 sites located within the open water, helophytes and elodeids, were analysed. Eutrophic rotifers showed a similar response to environmental factors and were linked to a certain type of habitat as was the whole pelagic community, while mesotrophic rotifers, which ecologically also belong to the pelagic community, responded in the same way as the littoral community and species diversity. The first group of rotifer indices, pelagic rotifers and their eutrophic fraction prevailed in the open water of fishstock large-surfaced ponds. However, the second group consisting of littoral rotifers along with overall species diversity and mesotrophic fraction, increased concurrently with the presence of crustaceans in small-surfaced ponds overshaded by nymphaeids and pleustophytes. The presence of elodeids in ponds, particularly Ceratophyllum and Chara, with the highest complexity (plant biomass), apart from increasing the diversity and share of littoral rotifers, reduced the occurrence of eutrophic rotifers and increased that of mesotrophic ones. This confirms the viability of using certain trophic indicators for water quality prediction in ponds. While elodeids were of the greatest importance, helophytes did not impact rotifer distribution, having no indicative value for quality state assessment in ponds. We demonstrate that a functional approach, taking into account rotifer life forms (pelagic vs. littoral community), may serve as a valuable tool for environmental analyses in case of small water bodies. Rotifer indices revealed not only a prevalence towards a particular type of habitat but they also selectively chose certain species of macrophyte beds, which suggests that for conservation purposes a highly complex cover of elodeids should be maintained to improve the ecological value of ponds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T08:54:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-98266b9955c14da38fa8d251b4cf1f96 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T08:54:40Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-98266b9955c14da38fa8d251b4cf1f962022-12-21T19:09:36ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2021-09-01128107829Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field pondsNatalia Kuczyńska-Kippen0Maria Špoljar1Mirosław Mleczek2Chen Zhang3Department of Water Protection, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland; Corresponding author.Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Chemistry, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 75, 60-625 Poznań, PolandState Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, ChinaDespite the large number of ponds scattered across the landscape, there is still insufficient recognition of their functioning. This would require the development of methods for assessing this type of aquatic ecosystem, based on their environmental specificity. Even though conditions are potentially homogenic in small and shallow water bodies, macrophytes divide the area into diverse microhabitats. Therefore, we hypothesized that the type of habitat (the open water vs. various macrophytes) may have a considerable structuring effect on functional groups, such as life-forms (pelagic and littoral) or trophic-associated rotifers, confirming their great suitability for environmental studies. Sixty three ponds, with 136 sites located within the open water, helophytes and elodeids, were analysed. Eutrophic rotifers showed a similar response to environmental factors and were linked to a certain type of habitat as was the whole pelagic community, while mesotrophic rotifers, which ecologically also belong to the pelagic community, responded in the same way as the littoral community and species diversity. The first group of rotifer indices, pelagic rotifers and their eutrophic fraction prevailed in the open water of fishstock large-surfaced ponds. However, the second group consisting of littoral rotifers along with overall species diversity and mesotrophic fraction, increased concurrently with the presence of crustaceans in small-surfaced ponds overshaded by nymphaeids and pleustophytes. The presence of elodeids in ponds, particularly Ceratophyllum and Chara, with the highest complexity (plant biomass), apart from increasing the diversity and share of littoral rotifers, reduced the occurrence of eutrophic rotifers and increased that of mesotrophic ones. This confirms the viability of using certain trophic indicators for water quality prediction in ponds. While elodeids were of the greatest importance, helophytes did not impact rotifer distribution, having no indicative value for quality state assessment in ponds. We demonstrate that a functional approach, taking into account rotifer life forms (pelagic vs. littoral community), may serve as a valuable tool for environmental analyses in case of small water bodies. Rotifer indices revealed not only a prevalence towards a particular type of habitat but they also selectively chose certain species of macrophyte beds, which suggests that for conservation purposes a highly complex cover of elodeids should be maintained to improve the ecological value of ponds.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21004945Trophic conditionsCommunity indicesCeratophyllumCharaPlant shadeZooplankton |
| spellingShingle | Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen Maria Špoljar Mirosław Mleczek Chen Zhang Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds Ecological Indicators Trophic conditions Community indices Ceratophyllum Chara Plant shade Zooplankton |
| title | Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds |
| title_full | Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds |
| title_fullStr | Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds |
| title_short | Elodeids, but not helophytes, increase community diversity and reduce trophic state: Case study with rotifer indices in field ponds |
| title_sort | elodeids but not helophytes increase community diversity and reduce trophic state case study with rotifer indices in field ponds |
| topic | Trophic conditions Community indices Ceratophyllum Chara Plant shade Zooplankton |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21004945 |
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