Fish species introductions provide novel insights into the patterns and drivers of phylogenetic structure in freshwaters

Despite long-standing interest of terrestrial ecologists, freshwater ecosystems are a fertile, yet unappreciated, testing ground for applying community phylogenetics to uncover mechanisms of species assembly. We quantify phylogenetic clustering and overdispersion of native and non-native fishes of a large river basin in the American Southwest to test for the mechanisms (environmental filtering versus competitive exclusion) and spatial scales influencing community structure. Contrary to expectations, non-native species were phylogenetically clustered and related to natural environmental conditions, whereas native species were not phylogenetically structured, likely reflecting human-related changes to the basin. The species that are most invasive (in terms of ecological impacts) tended to be the most phylogenetically divergent from natives across watersheds, but not within watersheds, supporting the hypothesis that Darwin's naturalization conundrum is driven by the spatial scale. Phylogenetic distinctiveness may facilitate non-native establishment at regional scales, but environmental filtering restricts local membership to closely related species with physiological tolerances for current environments. By contrast, native species may have been phylogenetically clustered in historical times, but species loss from contemporary populations by anthropogenic activities has likely shaped the phylogenetic signal. Our study implies that fundamental mechanisms of community assembly have changed, with fundamental consequences for the biogeography of both native and non-native species.

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Scale dependence in the phylogenetic relatedness of alien and native taxa

Journal of Plant Ecology ◽

10.1093/jpe/rtaa048 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 601-610

Author(s):

Chris M McGrannachan ◽

Gillis J Horner ◽

Melodie A McGeoch

Keyword(s):

Alien Species ◽

Spatial Scale ◽

Native Species ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Pairwise Distance ◽

Phylogenetic Structure ◽

Phylogenetic Clustering ◽

Phylogenetic Relatedness ◽

Darwin's Naturalization Hypothesis ◽

Darwin’S Naturalization Hypothesis

Abstract Aims Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis proposes that successfully established alien species are less closely related to native species due to differences in their ecological niches. Studies have provided support both for and against this hypothesis. One reason for this is the tendency for phylogenetic clustering between aliens and natives at broad spatial scales with overdispersion at fine scales. However, little is known about how the phylogenetic relatedness of alien species alters the phylogenetic structure of the communities they invade, and at which spatial scales effects may manifest. Here, we examine if invaded understorey plant communities, i.e. containing both native and alien taxa, are phylogenetically clustered or overdispersed, how relatedness changes with spatial scale and how aliens affect phylogenetic patterns in understorey communities. Methods Field surveys were conducted in dry forest understorey communities in south-east Australia at five spatial scales (1, 20, 500, 1500 and 4500 m2). Standardized effect sizes of two metrics were used to quantify phylogenetic relatedness between communities and their alien and native subcommunities, and to examine how phylogenetic patterns change with spatial scale: (i) mean pairwise distance and (ii) mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD). Important Findings Aliens were closely related to each other, and this relatedness tended to increase with scale. Native species and the full community exhibited either no clear pattern of relatedness with increasing spatial scale or were no different from random. At intermediate spatial scales (20–500 m2), the whole community tended towards random whereas the natives were strongly overdispersed and the alien subcommunity strongly clustered. This suggests that invasion by closely related aliens shifts community phylogenetic structure from overdispersed towards random. Aliens and natives were distantly related across spatial scales, supporting Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis, but only when phylogenetic distance was quantified as MNTD. Phylogenetic dissimilarity between aliens and natives increased with spatial scale, counter to expected patterns. Our findings suggest that the strong phylogenetic clustering of aliens is driven by human-mediated introductions involving closely related taxa that can establish and spread successfully. Unexpected scale-dependent patterns of phylogenetic relatedness may result from stochastic processes such as fire and dispersal events and suggest that competition and habitat filtering do not exclusively dominate phylogenetic relationships at fine and coarse spatial scales, respectively. Distinguishing between metrics that focus on different evolutionary depths is important, as different metrics can exhibit different scale-dependent patterns.

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Assessment of the Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities on a Large River Using Longfin Eel as a Bioindicator

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12208412 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (20) ◽

pp. 8412

Author(s):

Olivier Champeau ◽

James M. Ataria ◽

Grant L. Northcott ◽

Gen Kume ◽

Andrew Barrick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Native Species ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Economic Value ◽

River System ◽

Large River ◽

Chemical Contamination ◽

Bioindicator Species ◽

Tissue Samples ◽

Anthropogenic Stressors ◽

Residential Land Use

The Matāura River is the sixth largest river system in New Zealand and has long been subject to agricultural, industrial, and residential land use activities. The catchment has economic value and is of great cultural importance for local Māori, who have concerns over potential adverse impacts that anthropogenic stressors exert on the health of the river. There is a dearth of information on the impacts of these stressors towards the health of native species such as the longfin eel Anguilla dieffenbachii. This study assessed the environmental status of the Matāura River using biological and chemical methodologies incorporating A. dieffenbachii as a bioindicator species for exposure to multiple anthropogenic stressors. A range of biomarkers were measured in caged and wild-caught eels (when available) to characterize site-specific responses to anthropogenic stressors. While there was no clear indication of cumulative impacts moving from pristine headwaters to the lower reaches of the Matāura River, biomarkers of xenobiotic metabolization were induced in A. dieffenbachia and there was evidence of chemical contamination in sediment and tissue samples.

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Animal personality and the ecological impacts of freshwater non-native species

Current Zoology ◽

10.1093/czoolo/60.3.417 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 417-427 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Tristan Juette ◽

Julien Cucherousset ◽

Julien Cote

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

Native Species ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Animal Personality ◽

Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

Personality Types ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Taxonomic Groups

Abstract While the ecological impacts of invasive species have been demonstrated for many taxonomic groups, the potential effects of behavioural variation among non-native individuals (i.e. personality) on these impacts have been largely overlooked. This is despite the fact that recent studies have demonstrated that, by nature, the three first stages of biological invasions (i.e. transport, establishment and spread) can lead to personality-biased populations. Freshwater ecosystems provide a unique opportunity to investigate this issue, notably because the ecological impacts of non-native species have been extensively documented and because animal personality has been widely studied using freshwater model species. Here, we aim at developing some perspectives on the potential effects of animal personality on the ecological impacts of freshwater non-native species across levels of biological organizations. At the individual level, personality types have been demonstrated to affect the physiolo- gy, metabolism, life history traits and fitness of individuals. We used these effects to discuss how they could subsequently impact invaded populations and, in turn, recipient communities. We also discussed how these might translate into changes in the structure of food webs and the functioning of invaded ecosystems. Finally we discussed how these perspectives could interact with the management of invasive species.

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Metacommunity phylogenteic structure along environmental gradients

10.31237/osf.io/gzf52 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Diogo Provete

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Trees ◽

Environmental Gradients ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

Southeastern Brazil ◽

Quadratic Term ◽

Lineage Sorting ◽

Phylogenetic Information ◽

Phylogenetic Structure

Phylogenetic information has increasingly been included in studies of local communities and also at broad spatial scales. Despite recent criticisms in the last four years, phylogenetic relationships may still provide insights into theorganization and assembly of ecological communities. The objectives of this study were 1) to review the history of the use of phylogenetic information, as well as criticisms and perspectives of its use in community ecology; 2) understand how the size and shape of phylogenetic trees and the phylogenetic structure of metacomunidaes affect the amount of variation accounted for by a eigenvectorbasedmethod used to describe the phylogenetic composition of metacomunidaes (PCPS); 3) to test the effect of diversity of evolutionary history (MNTD and MPD) and species richness as predictors of three variables of freshwater ecosystemfunctioning (productivity, respiration, and decomposition); and finally 4) to test how environmental gradients, especially pond canopy cover, influence the phylogenetic structure of an anuran metacommunity from southeastern Brazil. Ifound that the structure of metacommunities had greater impact on eigenvalues of PCPS than tree shape metrics, such as symmetry and stemminess. In addition, decomposition and respiration were best predicted by MNTD as a linear function, while productivity was affected by the quadratic term of MNTD. Finally, pond canopy cover and floating vegetation strongly affected the phylogenetic structureof the anruan metacommunity, influencing lineage sorting. These findings 1) can help users interpret the results of PCPS; 2) provide better understand of the effectof species loss in multitrophic, freshwater ecosystems; and 3) improve our knowledge about the effect of canopy cover on the lineage composition in anuran metacomunities.

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Assessment of the Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities on a Large River Using Longfin Eel as a Bioindicator

10.20944/preprints202009.0211.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Olivier Champeau ◽

James Ataria ◽

Grant Northcott ◽

Gen Kume ◽

Andrew Barrick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Native Species ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Economic Value ◽

River System ◽

Large River ◽

Chemical Contamination ◽

Bioindicator Species ◽

Anthropogenic Stressors ◽

Environmental Status ◽

Residential Land Use

The Matāura River is the sixth largest river system in New Zealand and has long been subject to agricultural, industrial, and residential land use activities. The catchment has geographic and economic value and is of great cultural importance for local Māori, who have concerns over potential adverse impacts that anthropogenic stressors exert on the health of the river. There is a dearth of information on the impacts of these stressors towards the health of native species such as the longfin eel Anguilla dieffenbachii. This study assessed the environmental status of the Matāura River using biological and chemical methodologies incorporating A. dieffenbachii as a bioindicator species for exposure to combined anthroprogenic stressors. A range of biomarker endpoints were measured in caged and wild-caught eels (when available) to characterize site-specific responses to combined anthropogenic stressors. While there was no clear indication of cumulative impacts moving from pristine headwaters to the lower reaches of the Matāura River biomarkers of xenobiotic metabolization were induced in A. dieffenbachia and there was evidence of chemical contamination in sediments and tissues.

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The Use of Barriers to Limit the Spread of Aquatic Invasive Animal Species: A Global Review

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.611631 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Peter E. Jones ◽

Jeroen S. Tummers ◽

Shams M. Galib ◽

Darragh J. Woodford ◽

John B. Hume ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Native Species ◽

Management Strategy ◽

Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Management Tool ◽

Quantitative Aspect ◽

Freshwater Biodiversity ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Wide Range

Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are one of the principal threats to freshwater biodiversity. Exclusion barriers are increasingly being used as a management strategy to control the spread of AIS. However, exclusion barriers can also impact native organisms and their effectiveness is likely to be context dependent. We conducted a quantitative literature review to evaluate the use of barriers to control animal AIS in freshwater ecosystems worldwide. The quantitative aspect of the review was supplemented by case studies that describe some of the challenges, successes, and opportunities for the use of the use of AIS exclusion barriers globally. Barriers have been used since the 1950s to control the spread of AIS, but effort has been increasing since 2005 (80% of studies) and an increasingly diverse range of AIS taxa are now targeted in a wide range of habitat types. The global use of AIS barriers has been concentrated in North America (74% of studies), Australasia (11%), and Europe (10%). Physical barriers (e.g., weirs, exclusion screens, and velocity barriers) have been most widely used (47%), followed by electric (27%) and chemical barriers (12%). Fish were the most targeted taxa (86%), followed by crustaceans (10%), molluscs (3%) and amphibians (1%). Most studies have been moderately successful in limiting the passage of AIS, with 86% of the barriers tested deterring >70% of individuals. However, only 25% of studies evaluated barrier impacts on native species, and development of selective passage is still in its infancy. Most studies have been too short (47% < 1 year, 87% < 5 years) to detect ecological impacts or have failed to use robust before-after-control-impact (BACI) study designs (only 5%). Hence, more effective monitoring is required to assess the long-term effectiveness of exclusion barriers as an AIS management tool. Our global case studies highlight the pressing need for AIS control in many ecoregions, and exclusion barriers have the potential to become an effective tool in some situations. However, the design and operation of exclusion barriers must be refined to deliver selective passage of native fauna, and exclusion barriers should only be used sparingly as part of a wider integrated management strategy.

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Habitat Preferences and Trophic Position of Brachydiplax chalybea flavovittata Ris, 1911 (Insecta: Odonata) Larvae in Youngsan River Wetlands of South Korea

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11050273 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 273 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jong-Yun Choi ◽

Seong-Ki Kim ◽

Jeong-Cheol Kim ◽

Soon-Jik Kwon

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Native Species ◽

Trophic Position ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Larval Density ◽

Isotope Analysis ◽

Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Myriophyllum Aquaticum ◽

Zizania Latifolia

In freshwater ecosystems, habitat heterogeneity supports high invertebrate density and diversity, and it contributes to the introduction and settlement of non-native species. In the present study, we identified the habitat preferences and trophic level of Brachydiplax chalybea flavovittata larvae, which were distributed in four of the 17 wetlands we examined in the Yeongsan River basin, South Korea. Larval density varied across four microhabitat types: open water area, and microhabitats dominated by Myriophyllum aquaticum, Paspalum distichum, and Zizania latifolia. Microhabitats dominated by M. aquaticum had the highest larval density, followed by those dominated by P. distichum. The larvae were more prevalent in silt sediments than in plant debris or sand. Stable isotope analysis showed that B. chalybea flavovittata is likely to consume, as a food source, other species of Odonata larvae. We conclude that successful settlement of B. chalybea flavovittata can be attributed to their habitat preferences. As temperature increases due to climate change, the likelihood of B. chalybea flavovittata spreading throughout South Korea increases. We, therefore, recommend continued monitoring of the spread and ecological impacts of B. chalybea flavovittata.

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Spatial and phylogenetic structure of Alpine stonefly community assemblages across seven habitats using DNA-species

10.1101/765578 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Maribet Gamboa ◽

Joeselle Serrana ◽

Yasuhiro Takemon ◽

Michael T. Monaghan ◽

Kozo Watanabe

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Spatial Structure ◽

Habitat Heterogeneity ◽

Species Coexistence ◽

Species Turnover ◽

Phylogenetic Signal ◽

Gene Tree ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

List Type ◽

Phylogenetic Structure

AbstractStream ecosystems are spatially heterogeneous, with many different habitat patches distributed within a small area. The influence of this heterogeneity on the biodiversity of benthic insect communities is well documented; however, studies of the role of habitat heterogeneity in species coexistence and community assembly remain limited. Here, we asked how habitat heterogeneity influences spatial structure (beta biodiversity) and phylogenetic structure (evolutionary processes) of benthic stonefly (Plecoptera, Insecta) communities.We sampled 20 sites along two Alpine rivers, including seven habitats in four different reaches (headwaters, meandering, bar-braided floodplain, and lowland spring-fed). We identified 21 morphological species and delineated 52 DNA-species based on sequences from mitochondrial cox1 and nuclear ITS markers. Using DNA-species, we first analysed the patterns of variation in richness, diversity, and composition by quantifing the contribution of each of the four reaches and seven habitats to the overall DNA-species diversity using an additive partition of species diversity analysis and distance-based redundancy analysis. Using gene-tree phylogenies, we assessed whether environmental filtering led to the co-occurrence of DNA-species using a two-step analysis to find a phylogenetic signal.The four reaches significantly contributed to DNA-species richness; with the meandering section displaying the highest contribution. However, we found that habitats had an effect on DNA-species diversity, where glide, riffle, and pool influenced the spatial structure of stonefly communities possibly due to a high species turnover.Among the habitats, the pool showed significant phylogenetic clustering, suggesting high levels of evolutionary adaptation and strong habitat filtering. This community structure may be caused by long-term stability of the habitat and the similar requirements for co-ocurring species.Our study shows the importance of different habitats on the spatial and phylogenetic structure of stonefly community assemblies and sheds light on the habitat-specific diversity that may help improve conservation practices.

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Phylogenetic and functional trait-based community assembly within Pacific Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae): evidence for clustering at multiple spatial scales

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1017906/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Melissa Johnson

Keyword(s):

Community Assembly ◽

Phylogenetic Signal ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Leaf Traits ◽

Functional Trait ◽

The Pacific ◽

Island Communities ◽

Coexisting Species

Abstract Tropical rainforest communities are often characterized by a small number of species-rich genera that contribute disproportionately to the alpha diversity in these habitats. In the Pacific Basin there are nearly 200 species of Cyrtandra, most of which are white-flowered woody shrubs that are single-island endemics. Within these island communities, multiple Cyrtandra species are commonly observed to occur sympatrically in wet forest understories, forming swarms of what appear to be ecologically similar taxa. The aim of this study was to determine if communities of these plants are randomly assembled with respect to phylogenetic relatedness and traits that are ecologically relevant. Using a combination of ten functional traits and a well-resolved species phylogeny, I examined community assembly within 34 species of Cyrtandra across three Pacific archipelagoes. Coexisting species were generally found to be more closely related and more phenotypically similar than would be expected by chance. This pattern was observed at both broad (island communities) and fine (site communities) spatial scales. The retention of phylogenetic signal in floral traits and the strong influence of these traits on the observed degree of phylogenetic clustering may indicate that pollinators act as a biotic filter for closely related species of Cyrtandra. In contrast, the absence of phylogenetic signal in most leaf traits, coupled with the lower contribution of these traits to niche clustering, suggests that environmental filtering along this trait axis is minimal in the observed communities. This study supports the theory that plant communities are not randomly assembled, and instead, that niche-based processes structure biodiversity at broad and fine spatial scales in diverse congeneric species assemblages.

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Fractal triads efficiently sample ecological diversity and processes across spatial scales

10.1101/2021.01.15.426868 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth G. Simpson ◽

William D. Pearse

Keyword(s):

Spatial Scale ◽

Statistical Power ◽

Sampling Design ◽

Environmental Gradients ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Sagebrush Steppe ◽

Conifer Forest ◽

Phylogenetic Structure

AbstractThe relative influence of ecological assembly processes, such as environmental filtering, competition, and dispersal, vary across spatial scales. Changes in phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity across environments provide insight into these processes, however, it is challenging to assess the effect of spatial scale on these metrics. Here, we outline a nested sampling design that fractally spaces sampling locations to concentrate statistical power across spatial scales in a study area. We test this design in northeast Utah, at a study site with distinct vegetation types (including sagebrush steppe and mixed conifer forest), that vary across environmental gradients. We demonstrate the power of this design to detect changes in community phylogenetic diversity across environmental gradients and assess the spatial scale at which the sampling design captures the most variation in empirical data. We find clear evidence of broad-scale changes in multiple features of phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity across aspect. At finer scales, we find additional variation in phylo-diversity, highlighting the power of our fractal sampling design to efficiently detect patterns across multiple spatial scales. Thus, our fractal sampling design and analysis effectively identify important environmental gradients and spatial scales that drive community phylogenetic structure. We discuss the insights this gives us into the ecological assembly processes that differentiate plant communities found in northeast Utah.

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