Living with an engineer: fish metacommunities in dynamic patchy environments

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneta Bylak ◽  
Krzysztof Kukuła

Different environmental preferences and dispersal abilities allow fish to coexist in local communities. In the present study we analysed the effects of engineering species on the community structure based on the example of the European beaver (Castor fiber) and mountainous European stream fish. We hypothesised that the creation of beaver impoundments increases environmental heterogeneity and causes a strong spatial and temporal variation in fish species composition and size structure. Finally, we placed these results in the context of the metacommunity theory. Our research was conducted over a large spatial scale, and over a relatively long (5-year) temporal scale. Data analysis revealed strong environmental gradients associated with stream size and increased environmental heterogeneity associated with the creation of beaver impoundments. The results also indicated strong spatial and temporal variation in fish species composition and size structure associated with this environmental heterogeneity. Although local communities changed over time, the main metacommunity characteristics remained constant. Fish must move and follow environmental changes for their populations and communities to persist in streams inhabited by beavers. Gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of the engineering species on fish community structure may help inform management and the conservation of stream ecosystems.

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-110
Author(s):  
Seung-Young Kim ◽  
Mi-Young Song ◽  
Hyoung-Joo Jeon ◽  
Kyeong-Hwan Kim ◽  
Wan-Ok Lee ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 5850
Author(s):  
Jiaojiao Ma ◽  
Ting Zhou ◽  
Chunyu Xu ◽  
Dawen Shen ◽  
Songjun Xu ◽  
...  

Field and laboratory investigations were conducted to characterize bacterial diversity and community structure in a badly contaminated mangrove wetland adjacent to the metropolitan area of a megacity in subtropical China. Next-generation sequencing technique was used for sequencing the V4–V5 region of the 16s rRNA gene on the Illumina system. Collectively, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the predominant phyla identified in the investigated soils. A significant spatial variation in bacterial diversity and community structure was observed for the investigated mangrove soils. Heavy metal pollution played a key role in reducing the bacterial diversity. The spatial variation in soil-borne heavy metals shaped the spatial variation in bacterial diversity and community structure in the study area. Other environmental factors such as total carbon and total nitrogen in the soils that are affected by seasonal change in temperature could also influence the bacterial abundance, diversity and community structure though the temporal variation was relatively weaker, as compared to spatial variation. The bacterial diversity index was lower in the investigated site than in the comparable reference site with less contaminated status. The community structure in mangrove soils at the current study site was, to a remarkable extent, different from those in the tropical mangrove wetlands around the world.


2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung-Ha Kang ◽  
Yi-Gyeong Kim ◽  
Jung-Youn Park ◽  
Jin-Koo Kim ◽  
Jung-Hwa Ryu ◽  
...  

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