Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France
Small shallow lakes (SSL) support exceptionally high and original biodiversity, providing numerous ecosystem services. Their small size makes them especially sensitive to anthropic activities, which cause a shift to dysfunctional turbid states and induce loss of services and biodiversity. In this st...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/5/609 |
| _version_ | 1797395185329504256 |
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| author | Frédéric Labat Gabrielle Thiébaut Christophe Piscart |
| author_facet | Frédéric Labat Gabrielle Thiébaut Christophe Piscart |
| author_sort | Frédéric Labat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Small shallow lakes (SSL) support exceptionally high and original biodiversity, providing numerous ecosystem services. Their small size makes them especially sensitive to anthropic activities, which cause a shift to dysfunctional turbid states and induce loss of services and biodiversity. In this study we investigated the relationships between environmental factors and macrophyte communities. Macrophytes play a crucial role in maintaining functional clear states. Better understanding the factors determining the composition and richness of aquatic plant communities in least-impacted conditions may be useful to protect these shallow lakes. We inventoried macrophyte communities and collected chemical, climatic, and morphological data from 89 least-impacted SSL widely distributed in France. SSL were sampled across four climatic ecoregions, various geologies, and elevations. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed a clear separation of four macrophyte assemblages strongly associated with mineralization. Determinant factors identified by distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) analysis were, in order of importance, geology, distance from source (DIS, a proxy for connectivity with river hydrosystems), surface area, climate, and hydroperiod (water permanency). Surprisingly, at a country-wide scale, climate and hydroperiod filter macrophyte composition weakly. Geology and DIS are the major determinants of community composition, whereas surface area determines floristic richness. DIS was identified as a determinant in freshwater lentic ecosystems for the first time. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:30:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b92a4fbabf314c9291e50865ad7fa90b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:30:49Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-b92a4fbabf314c9291e50865ad7fa90b2023-12-11T18:34:11ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412021-02-0113560910.3390/w13050609Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in FranceFrédéric Labat0Gabrielle Thiébaut1Christophe Piscart2Aquabio, 10 Rue Hector Guimard, 63800 Cournon-d’Auvergne, FranceUniversity of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO-UMR 6553, 35042 Rennes, FranceUniversity of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO-UMR 6553, 35042 Rennes, FranceSmall shallow lakes (SSL) support exceptionally high and original biodiversity, providing numerous ecosystem services. Their small size makes them especially sensitive to anthropic activities, which cause a shift to dysfunctional turbid states and induce loss of services and biodiversity. In this study we investigated the relationships between environmental factors and macrophyte communities. Macrophytes play a crucial role in maintaining functional clear states. Better understanding the factors determining the composition and richness of aquatic plant communities in least-impacted conditions may be useful to protect these shallow lakes. We inventoried macrophyte communities and collected chemical, climatic, and morphological data from 89 least-impacted SSL widely distributed in France. SSL were sampled across four climatic ecoregions, various geologies, and elevations. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed a clear separation of four macrophyte assemblages strongly associated with mineralization. Determinant factors identified by distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) analysis were, in order of importance, geology, distance from source (DIS, a proxy for connectivity with river hydrosystems), surface area, climate, and hydroperiod (water permanency). Surprisingly, at a country-wide scale, climate and hydroperiod filter macrophyte composition weakly. Geology and DIS are the major determinants of community composition, whereas surface area determines floristic richness. DIS was identified as a determinant in freshwater lentic ecosystems for the first time.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/5/609depressional wetlandspondsalkalinitygeologydistance from sourceconnectivity |
| spellingShingle | Frédéric Labat Gabrielle Thiébaut Christophe Piscart Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France Water depressional wetlands ponds alkalinity geology distance from source connectivity |
| title | Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France |
| title_full | Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France |
| title_fullStr | Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France |
| title_full_unstemmed | Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France |
| title_short | Principal Determinants of Aquatic Macrophyte Communities in Least-Impacted Small Shallow Lakes in France |
| title_sort | principal determinants of aquatic macrophyte communities in least impacted small shallow lakes in france |
| topic | depressional wetlands ponds alkalinity geology distance from source connectivity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/5/609 |
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