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98 results for “freshwater communities”
Plant community compositional stability over 40 years in a Fraser River Estuary tidal freshwater marsh
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Prickly postglacial pioneers: freshwater plankton community composition influences fatty acid desaturase (FADS2) copy number in Southern Greenland threespine sticklebacks
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Investigation of road salts and biotic stressors on freshwater wetland communities.
The application of road deicing salts has led to the salinization of freshwater ecosystems in northern regions worldwide. Increased chloride concentrations in lakes, streams, ponds, and wetlands may negatively affect freshwater biota, potentially threatening ecosystem services. In an effort to reduce the effects of road salt, operators have increased the use of salt alternatives, yet we lack an understanding of how these deicers affect aquatic communities. We examined the direct and indirect effects of the most commonly used road salt (NaCl) and a proprietary salt mixture (NaCl, KCl, MgCl2), at three environmentally relevant concentrations (150, 470, and 780 mg Cl−/L) on freshwater wetland communities in combination with one of three biotic stressors (control, predator cues, and competitors). The communities contained periphyton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and two tadpole species (American toads, Anaxyrus americanus; wood frogs, Lithobates sylvaticus). Overall, we found the two road salts did not interact with the natural stressors. Both salts decreased pH and reduced zooplankton abundance. The strong decrease in zooplankton abundance in the highest NaCl concentration caused a trophic cascade that resulted in increased phytoplankton abundance. The highest NaCl concentration also reduced toad activity. For the biotic stressors, predatory stress decreased whereas competitive stress increased the activity of both tadpole species. Wood frog survival, time to metamorphosis, and mass at metamorphosis all decreased under competitive stress whereas toad time to metamorphosis increased and mass at metamorphosis decreased. Collectively, road salts and biotic stressors both can affect freshwater communities, but their effects are not interactive. The direct and indirect effects of road salts reported are important for management and conservation efforts given the salinization of freshwater systems following winter road maintenance.
Species identity and diversity effects on invasion resistance of tropical freshwater plant communities
<p>Biotic resistance mediated by native plant diversity has long been hypothesized to reduce the success of invading plant species in terrestrial systems in temperate regions. However, still little is known about the mechanisms driving invasion patterns in other biomes or latitudes. We help to fill this gap by investigating how native plant community presence and diversity, and the presence of native phylogenetically closely related species to an invader, would affect invader <i>Hydrilla verticillata</i> establishment success in tropical freshwater submerged plant communities. The presence of a native community suppressed the growth of <i>H. verticillata</i>, but did not prevent its colonisation. Invader growth was negatively affected by native plant productivity, but independent of native species richness and phylogenetic relatedness to the invader. Native plant production was not related to native species richness in our study. We show that resistance in these tropical aquatic submerged plant communities is mainly driven by the presence and biomass of a native community independent of native species diversity. Our study illustrates that resistance provided by these tropical freshwater submerged plant communities to invasive species contrasts to resistance described for other ecosystems. This emphasizes the need to include understudied systems when predicting patterns of species invasiveness and ecosystem invasibility across biomes. </p>
Data from: Increased habitat connectivity homogenizes freshwater communities: historical and landscape perspectives
1. Increases in habitat connectivity can have consequences for taxonomic, functional, and genetic diversity of communities. Previously isolated aquatic habitats were connected with canals and pipelines in the largest water development project in US history, the Columbia Basin Project (eastern Washington, USA), which also altered environmental conditions; however, the ecological consequences are largely unknown. 2. Using a historical dataset, we examined long-term patterns in zooplankton communities, water chemistry and clarity, testing the hypothesis that increased connectivity will result in taxonomic homogenization. Further, we tested contemporary drivers of communities using a comprehensive set of environmental and landscape variables. 3. Waterbodies were sampled for zooplankton community composition as well as physical and chemical variables inside and outside the Columbia Basin Project using methods consistent with historical studies. 4. We found significant declines in salinity inside the Columbia Basin Project, whereas changes in water clarity were prevalent across all waterbodies. Increased connectivity via canals homogenized zooplankton communities over time, as well as increasing regional richness. Other long-term changes in zooplankton communities may be related to climate change, invasive species, and land-use changes. 5. Synthesis and applications. Though canals may offer species spatial refugia, homogenization may decrease resilience to environmental stressors. These new hybrid aquatic landscapes, or hydroscapes, should be considered carefully in future water development, including specific plans for monitoring of species and environmental conditions, as well as mitigation of undesirable conditions and/or non-native species.
Data from: Geo-climatic factors drive diatom community distribution in tropical South American freshwaters
1.Patterns that maintain and generate biodiversity of macro-organisms in the Neotropics are widely discussed in the scientific literature, yet the spatial ecology of microorganisms is largely unknown. The unique character of the tropical Andes and adjacent Amazon lowlands generates a wide gradient of environmental conditions to advance our understanding of what drives community assembly and diversity processes. 2.We analyzed the distribution patterns of benthic diatoms (unicellular siliceous algae) as a model group of microbial passive dispersers, including predictors that describe limnological and geo-climatic gradients for a total of 113 waterbodies (0–28ºS and 58–80ºW), including lakes and streams. Complementary multivariate statistical analyses were performed to correlate i) community composition, and ii) diatom species richness with environmental and spatial factors to infer niche-based and dispersal-based assembly processes, respectively. 3.Results showed that two gradients structured both diatom assemblages and waterbodies, namely climate and landscape configuration. Variance partitioning revealed that broad-scale spatial variables (distance-based Moran's Eigenvectors) outperformed the two environmental components (limnological and geo-climatic), suggesting dispersal-assembled communities. However, diatom assemblages were structured by geo-climatic (regional) factors in certain lakes in the northern and central Andes, although their effects were partially manifested via local variables after the geographical distances were factored out. In a similar way, climatic and topographic structuring homogenized lake and stream communities within ecoregions, as indicated by the strong overlap between the two community types and the weak correlation between biota and limnological variables. Notably, a significant increase in diatom species richness was related to increased water connectivity, interpreted to indicate that a decrease in the remoteness of the system increase species number. 4.Synthesis. We emphasize the strength of macroecological gradients (landscape configuration and climatic factors) in affecting both diatom diversity and community composition in the South American tropics. In this context, our results and the commonalities of ecoregion patterning with groups of macroorganisms (vegetation), suggest the need to integrate microbial ecology into a macroecology framework to unravel mechanisms behind diversity gradients.
Data from: No effect of realistic concentrations of polyester microplastic fibers on freshwater zooplankton communities
<p>Zooplankton are a conduit of energy from autotrophic phytoplankton to higher trophic levels, and they can be a primary point of entry of microplastics into the aquatic food chain. Investigating how zooplankton communities are affected by microplastic pollution is thus a key step towards understanding ecosystem-level effects of these global and ubiquitous contaminants. Although the number of studies investigating the biological effects of microplastics has grown exponentially in the last decade, the majority have used controlled laboratory experiments to quantify the impacts of microplastics on individual species. Given that all organisms live in multi-species communities in nature, here we use an outdoor 1130L mesocosm experiment to investigate the effects of microplastic exposure on natural assemblages of zooplankton. We endeavored to simulate an environmentally relevant exposure scenario by manually creating ~270,000 0.015mm x 1-1.5mm polyester fibers and inoculating mesocosms with zero, low (10 particles/L) or high (50 particles/L) concentrations. We recorded zooplankton abundance and community composition three times throughout the 12-week study. We found no effect of microplastics on zooplankton abundance, Shannon diversity, or Pielou's evenness. NMDS plots also revealed no effects of microplastics on zooplankton community composition. Our study provides a necessary and realistic baseline upon which future studies can build. Because numerous other stressors faced by zooplankton (e.g. food limitation, eutrophication, warming temperatures, pesticides) are likely to exacerbate the effects of microplastics, we caution against concluding that polyester microfibers will always have no effect on zooplankton communities. Instead, we encourage future studies to investigate the triple threats of habitat degradation, climate warming, and microplastic pollution on zooplankton community health.</p>
Data and code from: Species interactions drive continuous assembly of freshwater communities in stochastic environments
<p>Understanding the factors driving the maintenance of long-term biodiversity in changing environments is essential for improving restoration and sustainability strategies in the face of global environmental change. Biodiversity is shaped by both niche and stochastic processes, however the strength of deterministic processes in unpredictable environmental regimes is highly debated. Since communities continuously change over time and space -- species persist, disappear or (re)appear -- understanding the drivers of species gains and losses from communities should inform us about whether niche or stochastic processes dominate community dynamics.<br>Applying a nonparametric causal discovery approach to a 30-year time series containing annual abundances of benthic invertebrates across 66 locations in New Zealand rivers, we found a strong \hl{negative} causal relationship between species gains and losses directly driven by predation indicating that niche processes dominate community dynamics. Despite the unpredictable nature of these system, environmental noise was only indirectly related to species gains and losses through altering life history trait distribution. Using a stochastic birth-death framework, we demonstrate that the negative relationship between species gains and losses can not emerge without strong niche processes. Our results showed that even in systems that are dominated by unpredictable environmental variability, species interactions drive continuous community assembly. </p>
Dataset for manuscript entitled "The effects of a synthetic and biological surfactant on the community composition and metabolic activity of a freshwater biofilm"
<p>The following datasets were used for the 16s rRNA analysis in the manuscript entitled " The effects of a synthetic and biological surfactant on the community composition and metabolic activity of a freshwater biofilm". BZ2 files were obtained from next generation sequencing with the Illumina Mi-Seq. Mothur was used to analyze the BZ2 files, creating the listed excel documents.</p>
Figure 1 in Epibiontic communities on the freshwater shrimp Caridina ensifera (Crustacea, Decapoda, Atyidae) from Lake Poso (Sulawesi, Indonesia)
Figure 1. Geographical area of the study.
Measuring the contribution of evolution to community trait structure in freshwater zooplankton
<p>There are currently few predictions about when evolutionary processes are likely to play an important role in structuring community features.Determining predictors that indicate when evolution is expected to impact ecological processes in natural landscapes can help researchers identify eco-evolutionary 'hotspots', where eco-evolutionary interactions are more likely to occur. Using data collected from a survey in freshwater cladoceran communities, landscape population genetic data, and phenotypic trait data measured in a common garden, we applied a Bayesian linear model to assess whether the impact of local trait evolution in the keystone species <i>Daphnia magna</i> on cladoceran community trait values could be predicted by population genetic properties (within-population genetic diversity, genetic distance among populations), ecological properties (Simpson's diversity, phenotypic divergence), or environmental divergence. We found that the impact of local trait evolution varied among communities. Moreover, community diversity and phenotypic divergence were found to be better predictors of the contribution of evolution to community trait values than environmental features or genetic properties of the evolving species. Our results thus indicate the importance of ecological context for the impact of evolution on community features. Our study also demonstrates one way to detect signatures of eco-evolutionary interactions in communities inhabiting heterogeneous landscapes using survey data of contemporary ecological and evolutionary structure.</p>
Data for: Invasion by an exotic grass species homogenises native freshwater plant communities
<p>A growing body of evidence has shown that biological invasions cause shifts in species composition of communities in space and time. Although biological invasions are considered a major driver of biotic homogenisation worldwide, most previous studies are conducted at small spatial scales and over short time periods, which may have underestimated the impacts of exotic species on native communities.</p> <p>Using a unique dataset of aquatic plants sampled in 235 sites over 12 years (2007–2010 and 2015–2019) in a large reservoir (Itaipu Reservoir; 1,350 km²), we analyzed how the invasion of a non-native grass (<em>Urochloa arrecta</em>) affects the species richness, ecological uniqueness (i.e., local contribution to beta diversity – LCBD) and temporal β–diversity of native plant communities.</p> <p>From 3,934 surveyed plant communities, <em>U. arrecta</em> was recorded in 2,888 samples and it was absent from 1,046 samples. Overall, species richness and ecological uniqueness of native plant communities were markedly lower in sites invaded than non-invaded by <em>U. arrecta</em>. From 2007 to 2019, the ecological uniqueness of native plants was 60% lower in the invaded than non-invaded sites. Whereas in invaded sites the species loss was the dominant mechanism driving native communities over time, in non–invaded sites the gain of new native species was the primary mechanism underlying community trajectories. Moreover, comparing native plant communities before and after the invasion of <em>U. arrecta</em>, species richness, ecological uniqueness and species gains of native plant communities decreased, whereas species losses increased after the invasion of <em>U. arrecta</em>. Finally, the positive relationship between native biodiversity and precipitation was stronger in sites non-invaded than invaded by <em>U. arrecta</em>.</p> <p>Synthesis: Our findings provide comprehensive evidence that an invasive plant is decreasing the spatial and temporal β–diversity of native plant communities through declining species richness, rather than simply correlating with them. This suggests that<em> U. arrecta</em> is driving native plants to become less diverse and homogeneous after the invasion, both spatially and temporally. Our findings illustrate that at broad scales, aquatic plant communities may become increasingly homogeneous with the increasing number of biological invasion events taking place worldwide. </p>
Community reorganization stabilizes freshwater ecosystems in intensively managed agricultural fields
<ol> <li>Sustainable intensification may depend on associating precision farming with the harnessing of ecological principles in crop fields and with integrating farms and non-farmed land in productive landscapes. Small wetlands could play an important role in both pursuits for having high per-unit-area rates of element cycling and species richness while deeply penetrating crop fields. However, their potential for ecosystem service provisioning is unlikely to be met if land management intensification promotes ecosystem destabilization in biomass production. </li> <li>We tested the consequences of land use intensification on various dimensions of freshwater ecosystem stability by means of a large-scale field experiment converting extensive pastures to intensive pastures and sugarcane plantations in Southeastern Brazil. Nested within experimental plots were 4,000-L mesocosms simulating ponds and puddles commonly found in productive landscapes. Mesocosms were monitored for basic physico-chemical parameters, nutrients, pesticides, phytoplankton standing crop, and the spontaneously colonizing biodiversity.</li> <li>3. Despite severe environmental change, the stability of sugarcane communities was no different from that of extensive and intensive pastures. This occurred because the local extinction of a sensitive top dragonfly predator following the application of vinasse and insecticide was compensated by colonization of a suite of more tolerant invertebrate mesopredators such as beetles and bugs. Community stability tended to increase with biomass asynchrony and species richness, evidencing a portfolio effect of biodiversity. Unfortunately, the species richness necessary to stabilize biomass production is unlikely to be available in many sugarcane fields and several other row crops.</li> <li> <em>Synthesis and applications.</em> Ponds and puddles could be effective centers of irradiation of ecosystem service provisioning in agricultural fields in terms of pest control; nutrient accumulation, cycling, and export back to fields; and habitat and stepping stones for freshwater biodiversity. However, the impoverished biodiversity that results from a combination of harsh local conditions and spatial isolation renders pond communities inherently unstable. Given the unlikely, immediate reduction in agrochemical use in much of the intensively managed crop area, a combination of large, protected source wetlands at the margin of fields and small constructed or naturally forming ponds and puddles in plantations could contribute to sustainable intensification.</li> </ol>
Data for: Photoperiod effects in a freshwater community: amphibian larvae develop faster and zooplankton abundance increases under an early-season photoperiod
<p class="MsoNormal">Organisms that shift their phenologies in response to global warming will experience novel photic environments, as photoperiod (daylength) continues to follow the same annual cycle. How different organisms respond to novel photoperiods could result in phenological mismatches and altered interspecific interactions. We conducted an outdoor mesocosm experiment exposing green frog (<em>Rana clamitans</em>) larvae, gray treefrog (<em>Hyla versicolor</em>) larvae, phytoplankton, periphyton, and zooplankton to a three-month shift in photoperiod: an early-season photoperiod (simulating April) and a late-season photoperiod (simulating July). We manipulated photoperiod by covering and uncovering tanks with clear or light-blocking lids to mimic realistic changes in daylength. We assessed amphibian life history traits and measured phytoplankton, periphyton, and zooplankton abundances. Green frog larvae and gray treefrog metamorphs were more developed under the early-season photoperiod. Gray treefrog total length was also reduced, but photoperiod did not affect green frog total length. Although phytoplankton and periphyton abundances were not affected by photoperiod, copepod nauplii were in greater abundance under the early-season photoperiod. Overall, this simplified aquatic community did not exhibit significant changes to structure when exposed to a three-month shift in photoperiod. Temperate amphibians that breed earlier in the year may develop faster, which may have long-term costs to post-metamorphic growth and performance. Asynchronous shifts in zooplankton abundances in response to altered photoperiods could subsequently affect freshwater community structure. While photoperiod has been shown to individually affect freshwater organisms, our study using replicated outdoor wetland communities shows that the comprehensive effects of photoperiod may be less important than other cues such as temperature and precipitation.</p>
Project BioDyn: compilation of long-term (>20yrs) community timeseries data from terrestrial and freshwater realms
<p>The given dataset was compiled for n=2668 communities (242 study IDs in total, see the metadata file) across terrestrial and freshwater realms (terrestrial birds: n=1259, invertebrates: n=124, plants: n=435, and mammals: n=136, freshwater fish: n=587, invertebrates: n=112, and phytoplankton: n=15). Community timeseries include species-level abundance (or biomass in 15% of cases) and a minimum of 20 years sampled. We have compiled this data and used it for the first time to analyze how community stability and its drivers (species richness, overall synchrony, and tail-dependent synchrony) would differ across realms.</p>
Seasonal turnover in community composition of stream-associated macroinvertebrates inferred from freshwater environmental DNA metabarcoding
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Communities that thrive in extreme conditions captured from a freshwater lake
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Data from: Increased habitat connectivity homogenizes freshwater communities: historical and landscape perspectives
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Community reorganization stabilizes freshwater ecosystems in intensively managed agricultural fields
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Data from: Geo-climatic factors drive diatom community distribution in tropical South American freshwaters
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.