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Variation of benthic algal assemblages among habitats in subalpine Karstic Lakes and implications for bioassessment

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Abstract

Detecting early warning signs of ecosystem degradation in nature reserves requires ultrasensitive biological indicators. We assessed the potential of using multihabitat assessment of benthic algae (growing on submerged vegetation, rocks, and dead trees) to detect early warning signs of nutrient enrichment in nine karstic lakes in Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve, a World Natural Heritage site in China. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that variability in benthic diatom assemblages among the major habitats within lakes were generally higher than among lakes. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance indicated that epiphytic diatom assemblages dominated by Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki differed significantly from both epilithic and epidendric assemblages. Epilithon and epidendron, both dominated by Delicata delicatula (Kützing) Krammer and Denticula tenuis Kützing, were not significantly different within lakes. Mean Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index values among the three assemblages in each lake were negatively correlated with the tourism-stress index but the correlation was not statistically significant. Increasing homogeneity in benthic diatom assemblages among habitats within a lake may be due to cumulative nutrient enrichment associated with tourism development. Links among tourisms, nutrient enrichment, and dissimilarity in benthic algae among habitats should be viewed with caution until the cause–effect relationships can be confirmed by in situ manipulative experiments.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2013DFR90670) and the Jiuzhaigou Bureau of Administration. The authors are grateful for all the logistic supports provided by the Jiuzhaigou Bureau of Administration, Dr. Beixin Wang’s research group in Nanjing Agricultural University, and Dr. Quanxi Wang’s research group in Shanghai Normal University. We would like to thank Patrick Edwards, Nadia Gillett, Mathew Dorfman, anonymous reviewers, and the associate editor for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97207, USA

    Yangdong Pan

  2. International Joint Commission, Great Lakes Regional Office, Windsor, ON, Canada

    Lizhu Wang

  3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Yong Cao

  4. College of Life and Environmental Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Wanting Pang & Quanxi Wang

  5. Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau, Sichuan, China

    Zhongfu Zhu, Xiaoping Zhang & Guiping Deng

  6. School of Natural Resource & Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Guiping Deng

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  1. Yangdong Pan
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Correspondence to Yangdong Pan.

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Handling editor: Chris Joyce

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Pan, Y., Wang, L., Cao, Y. et al. Variation of benthic algal assemblages among habitats in subalpine Karstic Lakes and implications for bioassessment. Hydrobiologia 777, 183–196 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2775-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2775-x

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