TY - JOUR
T1 - Climate-associated variation in the drivers of benthic macroinvertebrate species–area relationships across shallow freshwater lakes
AU - He, Hu
AU - Li, Yan
AU - Peng, Kai
AU - Zhang, You
AU - Rutter, Robert P.
AU - Jyväsjärvi, Jussi
AU - Kelly, David
AU - Chase, Jonathan M.
AU - Ntislidou, Chrysoula
AU - Loskutova, Olga
AU - Alcocer, Javier
AU - Jovem-Azevêdo, Daniele
AU - Molozzi, Joseline
AU - Wang, Jianjun
AU - Zhang, Min
AU - Li, Kuanyi
AU - Liu, Zhengwen
AU - Johansson, Liselotte Sander
AU - Søndergaard, Martin
AU - Cai, Yongjiu
AU - Wang, Haijun
AU - Jeppesen, Erik
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - The island species–area relationship (ISAR) describes how species richness increases with increasing area of a given island or island-like habitat, such as freshwater lakes. While the ISAR is one of the most common phenomena observed in ecology, there is variation in both the form of the relationship and its underlying mechanisms. We compiled a global data set of benthic macroinvertebrates from 524 shallow freshwater lakes, ranging from 1 to 293,300 ha in area. We used individual-based rarefaction to determine the degree to which ISAR was influenced by mechanisms other than passive sampling (larger islands passively sample more individuals from the regional pool and, therefore, have more species than smaller islands), which would bias results away from expected relationships between rarefied species richness (and other measures that capture relative abundances) and lake area. We also examined how climate may alter the shape of the ISARs. We found that both rarefied species richness (the number of species standardized by area or number of individuals) and a measure of evenness emphasizing common species exhibit shallow slopes in relationships with lake area, suggesting that the expected ISARs in these lakes most likely result from passive sampling. While there was considerable variation among ISARs across the investigated lakes, we found an overall positive rarefied ISAR for lakes in warm (i.e. tropical/subtropical) regions (n = 195), and in contrast, an overall negative rarefied ISAR in cool (i.e. north temperate) lakes (n = 329). This suggested that mechanisms beyond passive sampling (e.g. colonization–extinction dynamics and/or heterogeneity) were more likely to operate in warm lakes. One possible reason for this difference is that the area-dependent intensity of fish predation, which can lead to flatter ISARs, is weaker in warmer relative to cooler lakes. Our study illustrates the importance of understanding both the pattern and potential processes underlying the ISARs of freshwater lakes in different climatic regions. Furthermore, it provides a baseline for understanding how further changes to the ecosystem (i.e. in lake area or climate) might influence biodiversity patterns.
AB - The island species–area relationship (ISAR) describes how species richness increases with increasing area of a given island or island-like habitat, such as freshwater lakes. While the ISAR is one of the most common phenomena observed in ecology, there is variation in both the form of the relationship and its underlying mechanisms. We compiled a global data set of benthic macroinvertebrates from 524 shallow freshwater lakes, ranging from 1 to 293,300 ha in area. We used individual-based rarefaction to determine the degree to which ISAR was influenced by mechanisms other than passive sampling (larger islands passively sample more individuals from the regional pool and, therefore, have more species than smaller islands), which would bias results away from expected relationships between rarefied species richness (and other measures that capture relative abundances) and lake area. We also examined how climate may alter the shape of the ISARs. We found that both rarefied species richness (the number of species standardized by area or number of individuals) and a measure of evenness emphasizing common species exhibit shallow slopes in relationships with lake area, suggesting that the expected ISARs in these lakes most likely result from passive sampling. While there was considerable variation among ISARs across the investigated lakes, we found an overall positive rarefied ISAR for lakes in warm (i.e. tropical/subtropical) regions (n = 195), and in contrast, an overall negative rarefied ISAR in cool (i.e. north temperate) lakes (n = 329). This suggested that mechanisms beyond passive sampling (e.g. colonization–extinction dynamics and/or heterogeneity) were more likely to operate in warm lakes. One possible reason for this difference is that the area-dependent intensity of fish predation, which can lead to flatter ISARs, is weaker in warmer relative to cooler lakes. Our study illustrates the importance of understanding both the pattern and potential processes underlying the ISARs of freshwater lakes in different climatic regions. Furthermore, it provides a baseline for understanding how further changes to the ecosystem (i.e. in lake area or climate) might influence biodiversity patterns.
KW - biodiversity
KW - fish predation
KW - island biogeography
KW - metacommunity process
KW - passive sampling
KW - rarefied species richness
U2 - 10.1111/1365-2656.14028
DO - 10.1111/1365-2656.14028
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37975479
SN - 0021-8790
VL - 93
SP - 57
EP - 70
JO - Journal of Animal Ecology
JF - Journal of Animal Ecology
IS - 1
ER -