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Colonisation processes in benthic algal communities are well reflected by functional groups

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Abstract

Single-trait analyses are used to select the most appropriate species characteristics for an effective indication of changes in multiple stressors, but they are robust to detect fine-scale functional changes in biofilms. The combination of single traits may appropriately reflect ecological properties of changing benthic assemblages. We studied colonisation processes of benthic algal assemblages focusing on the changes in trait composition using life forms, type of attachments, cell size and mobility as single traits in a small lowland stream. We tested the descriptive power of single-trait groups (STGs) and also combined trait groups (CTGs). We assumed that STGs would be significantly affected by environmental factors, but compositional changes in biofilms would be described more easily by using CTGs rather than STGs. Our hypotheses were confirmed by the results. While some STGs correlated positively to environmental factors indicating disturbances, others correlated to environmental factors indicating the stable conditions. The fast settlement of large-sized groups was also relevant determining the compositional changes in the studied benthic community. Despite the strong correlation between STGs and environmental variables, CTGs analyses revealed important functional relations in the ecosystem, since CTGs display more sophisticated functional features of the organisms, which may provide more realistic responses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful for the contributions of the anonymous reviewers and for the support of Internal Research Project of the University of Debrecen (Bácsi I.), Hungarian Scientific Research Found (K 116639—B. Tóthmérész and NKFIH K 119 225—P. Török) and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hydrobiology, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen Egyetem square 1, Debrecen, Hungary

    Áron Lukács & István Bácsi

  2. Department of Ecology, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem square 1, Debrecen, Hungary

    Zsuzsanna Kókai & Béla Tóthmérész

  3. MTA-DE Lendület Functional and Restoration Ecology Research Group, H-4032 Debrecen Egyetem square 1, Debrecen, Hungary

    Péter Török & Viktória B-Béres

  4. Department of Tisza Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Ecological Research, Danube Research Institute, H-4026 Debrecen, Bem square 1, Debrecen, Hungary

    Gábor Borics & Gábor Várbíró

  5. MTA Centre for Ecological Research, GINOP Sustainable Ecosystems Group, H-8237 Tihany, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3, Debrecen, Hungary

    Gábor Borics, Gábor Várbíró & Viktória B-Béres

  6. Department of Environment and Conservation, Environmental Laboratory, Hajdú-Bihar County Government Office, H-4025 Debrecen, 16 Hatvan street, Debrecen, Hungary

    Enikő T-Krasznai

  7. MTA-DE Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Research Group, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem square 1, Debrecen, Hungary

    Béla Tóthmérész

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  1. Áron Lukács
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  2. Zsuzsanna Kókai
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  3. Péter Török
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  4. István Bácsi
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  7. Enikő T-Krasznai
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  8. Béla Tóthmérész
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  9. Viktória B-Béres
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Correspondence to Viktória B-Béres.

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Handling editor: Judit Padisák

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10750_2018_3711_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary material 1 (TIFF 39 kb). Summary of the data set for the 12 tested chemical and physical parameters: conductivity (COND—μS cm−1), oxidation–reduction potential (ORP—mV), pH, dissolved oxygen concentration (DO—mg l−1), oxygen saturation (OS—%), water temperature (T, °C), water depth (WD, cm), water velocity (WV—m s−1), nitrite (NO2−—mg l−1), nitrate (NO3−—mg l−1), ammonium (NH4+—mg l−1) and soluble reactive phosphorus (PO43− mg l−1)

10750_2018_3711_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary material 2 (TIFF 257 kb). List 68 taxa found in the samples, and their assignment to cell size, life form, attachment and mobility categories, and CTGs

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Lukács, Á., Kókai, Z., Török, P. et al. Colonisation processes in benthic algal communities are well reflected by functional groups. Hydrobiologia 823, 231–245 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3711-z

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