TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of habitat regime type on fish diversity in a large eutrophic lake
AU - Mao, Zhigang
AU - Gu, Xiaohong
AU - Zeng, Qingfei
AU - Chen, Huihui
AU - Jeppesen, Erik
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - For shallow lakes, the most dramatic ecosystem shift is that from a clear-water, macrophyte-dominated regime to a turbid, phytoplankton-dominated regime. Whereas many studies have focussed on the factors that trigger such shifts, it is still unclear how these changes shape fish diversity. In the present study, we characterised the fish communities taxonomically and functionally in Lake Taihu, China, along a spatial gradient of habitat types, i.e. algal-dominated, macrophyte-dominated, open-lake and aquaculture conversion zones. Random Forests regression was then applied to examine how fish diversities were related to environmental conditions. Our results showed that the taxonomic and functional composition of the fish community varied among different habitat regimes. Macrophyte and water quality were identified as the most important factors affecting the fish diversity indices. Habitats with a high macrophyte biomass and low nutrient concentration supported higher functional diversity. Moreover, our analysis revealed that although functional diversity indices were strongly correlated with species richness, they appeared more sensitive to changes in habitat conditions. Overall, our study highlights the importance of macrophyte-dominated state in maintaining fish diversity in freshwater ecosystems and provides new insight into how functional diversity can improve our understanding of the response of biodiversity to ecological processes.
AB - For shallow lakes, the most dramatic ecosystem shift is that from a clear-water, macrophyte-dominated regime to a turbid, phytoplankton-dominated regime. Whereas many studies have focussed on the factors that trigger such shifts, it is still unclear how these changes shape fish diversity. In the present study, we characterised the fish communities taxonomically and functionally in Lake Taihu, China, along a spatial gradient of habitat types, i.e. algal-dominated, macrophyte-dominated, open-lake and aquaculture conversion zones. Random Forests regression was then applied to examine how fish diversities were related to environmental conditions. Our results showed that the taxonomic and functional composition of the fish community varied among different habitat regimes. Macrophyte and water quality were identified as the most important factors affecting the fish diversity indices. Habitats with a high macrophyte biomass and low nutrient concentration supported higher functional diversity. Moreover, our analysis revealed that although functional diversity indices were strongly correlated with species richness, they appeared more sensitive to changes in habitat conditions. Overall, our study highlights the importance of macrophyte-dominated state in maintaining fish diversity in freshwater ecosystems and provides new insight into how functional diversity can improve our understanding of the response of biodiversity to ecological processes.
KW - Habitat heterogeneity
KW - Macrophyte coverage
KW - Random Forests regression
KW - Response sensitivity
KW - Water quality
U2 - 10.1007/s10750-023-05416-y
DO - 10.1007/s10750-023-05416-y
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85178112448
SN - 0018-8158
VL - 851
SP - 1807
EP - 1823
JO - Hydrobiologia
JF - Hydrobiologia
IS - 7
ER -