Open AccessInteractome‐based abiotic and biotic impacts on biodiversity of plankton communities in disturbed wetlands
Author(s) -
Yang Yuzhan,
Gao Yangchun,
Chen Yiyong,
Li Shiguo,
Zhan Aibin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
diversity and distributions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.918
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1472-4642
pISSN - 1366-9516
DOI - 10.1111/ddi.12949
Subject(s) - bacterioplankton , abiotic component , ecology , biodiversity , plankton , wetland , biotic component , zooplankton , biology , environmental science , phytoplankton , nutrient
Aim Despite great efforts for conservation, biodiversity in wetland ecosystems is still losing at an alarming rate. Thus, it is crucial to deeply understand ecological processes and mechanisms that potentially affect the loss of biodiversity. Location Sanjiang wetland in Sanjiang floodplain, north‐east China. Methods Biological samples and environmental data were collected from five approximate habitats under different anthropogenic disturbance levels from Sanjiang wetland. Biodiversity of plankton communities (i.e., bacterioplankton and zooplankton) was characterized by high‐throughput sequencing‐based metabarcoding. Multidisciplinary methods including interactome‐based construction of scale‐free networks were employed to examine the complex biotic interactions and abiotic influence on plankton biodiversity. Results Both environmental variables and community composition of plankton communities varied significantly among five habitats. Environmental filtering was identified as the dominant ecological process that drove the distinct community composition and geographical distribution of biodiversity. However, the significantly influential factors were different for bacterioplankton (e.g., pH and As) and zooplankton communities (e.g., NH 4 and TP). In total, environmental factors could explain approximately 30% of community variation for both types of plankton communities. Based on interactome networks, more organism‐associated edges were identified than environment‐associated edges. Such a pattern suggests that, in addition to environmental influence, biotic interactions also play a crucial role to shape biodiversity variation. Main conclusions Both abiotic factors and biotic interactions largely contributed to the distinct composition and geographical distribution of bacterioplankton and zooplankton communities in Sanjiang wetland. Therefore, the interactome‐based investigation is recommended to examine synthesized impacts of abiotic and biotic variables, and such a comprehensive survey can largely facilitate our understanding of ecological processes and associated mechanisms that drive the loss of wetland biodiversity. Results from comprehensive surveys can help identify conservation priorities and improve the predictability of conservation programmes.