Sedimentary, littoral and planktic diatoms show different diversity patterns and assembly mechanisms in mountain lakes of the northern European Alps

Abstract

AbstractThis study analysed diversity patterns of sedimentary, littoral and planktic diatoms in 43 mountain lakes in the northern European Alps and identified processes that contribute to these patterns. Linear regression models showed a significant increase of sedimentary α-diversity with lake area and conductivity and a negative trend with increasing elevation, whilst the littoral diatom α-diversity increased significantly with conductivity and lake water temperature. Planktic diatom α-diversity significantly decreased with lake area and depth. August water temperature, total phosphorus, conductivity and lake depth explained a significant part of the variation and were significantly correlated with pairwise β-diversities in the data sets, but spatial and shared effects of space and environment were more important for planktic and littoral diatoms. A null model approach based on assemblages’ dissimilarities revealed that the structure of littoral and planktic assemblages was predominantly stochastic. In contrast, sedimentary diatoms were formed by both deterministic and stochastic processes. Abundant and widespread species contributed a large part to the assemblage β-diversity. The results point to a stronger role of niche assembly in sedimentary than for littoral and planktic diatoms. Dispersal limitation, in turn, is likely to contribute to the spatial patterns and stochastic assembly processes observed for littoral and planktic diatoms.