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The importance of dispersal related and local factors in shaping the taxonomic structure of diatom metacommunities
Citation
Verleyen, E and Vyverman, W and Sterken, M and Hodgson, DA and De Wever, A and Juggins, S and Van de Vijver, B and Jones, VJ and Vanormelingen, P and Roberts, D and Flower, R and Kilroy, C and Souffreau, C and Sabbe, K, The importance of dispersal related and local factors in shaping the taxonomic structure of diatom metacommunities, Oikos, 118, (8) pp. 1239-1249. ISSN 0030-1299 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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The definitive published version is available online at: http://interscience.wiley.com
DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17575.x
Abstract
To date, little is known about the relative importance of dispersal related versus local factors in shaping microbial
metacommunities. A common criticism regarding existing datasets is that the level of taxonomic resolution might be too
coarse to reliably assess microbial community structure and study biogeographical patterns. Moreover, few studies have
assessed the importance of geographic distance between habitats, which may influence metacommunity dynamics
through its effect on dispersal rates. We applied variation partitioning analyses to 15 separate regional datasets on diatoms
found in lakes in Eurasia, Africa and Antarctica. These analyses quantified the relative contributions of dispersal related
and local factors in determining patterns of taxonomic turnover at the species and at the genus level. In general, results
were similar at both taxonomic levels. Local environmental factors accounted for most of the explained variation
(median21%), whereas dispersal related factors were much less important (median of significant fractions5.5%
variation explained) and failed to significantly explain any variation, independent of the environmental variables, in the
majority of the datasets. However, the amount of variation explained by dispersal related factors increased with increasing
geographic distance and increasing taxonomic resolution. We extrapolated our regional scale observations to the global
scale by combining the regional datasets into a global dataset comprising 1039 freshwater lakes from both hemispheres
and spanning a geographic distance of over 19 000 km. At this global scale, taxonomic turnover was lowest in highly
connected habitats, once environmental factors were partialled out. In common with many other studies of macroorganisms,
these analyses showed that both dispersal related and local variables significantly contribute to the structure of
global lacustrine diatom communities.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Plant biology |
| Research Field: | Phycology (incl. marine grasses) |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| Objective Field: | Biodiversity in Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| UTAS Author: | Roberts, D (Dr Donna Roberts) |
| ID Code: | 62625 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 135 |
| Deposited By: | CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems |
| Deposited On: | 2010-03-12 |
| Last Modified: | 2014-12-18 |
| Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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