Lake benthic algae: toward an understanding of their ecology

Cantonati, Marco; Lowe, Rex L.

doi:10.1086/676140

Cited by 108 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…light availability, temperature), to which species often respond with decreased abundances. In contrast, these resources remain relatively stable in the epilimnetic zone, possibly promoting high abundances of planktonic species (Passy, 2008;Cantonati & Lowe, 2014). The strong influence of water depth in regulating the spatial diatom community patterns has also been shown in other lakes studies (Yang & Duthie, 1995;Stone & Fritz, 2006;Laird et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2012).…”

Section: Relative Quantitative Importance Of Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 69%

Spatial patterns of diatom diversity and community structure in ancient Lake Ohrid

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The extraordinary diversity in long-lived lakes is largely driven by distinct eco-evolutionary processes. With their unique biota and numerous endemic taxa, these lakes are key settings for fundamental studies related to ecology, diversity, and evolution. Here, we test how the environment shapes diatom diversity and community patterns over space in ancient Lake Ohrid. By applying Bray-Curtis similarity analyses of diatom community data, including widespread and endemic taxa, we identified two major zones: littoral and sublittoral. The latter one is being characterized with higher endemic diversity. The a and b diatom diversity and community distribution in the northern and eastern part of the lake are influenced by the presence of vertical (bathymetrical) and horizontal barriers. The zonation of the diatom communities appears driven by two large-scale factors: (i) water depth, and (ii) water chemistry, primarily, the concentration of total phosphorus, nitrogen ammonia, and conductivity. Both drivers appear to equally influence diatom diversity and community patterns. We present initial data on diatom-environment relations, where the results support earlier ecological studies emphasizing the relevance of ongoing human-induced eutrophication in the northern lake area. This study provides background information on the role of the environment in structuring contemporary diatom diversity. However, future research needs to focus on the biotic component including species competition in order to reveal the mechanisms driving spatial community dynamics in Lake Ohrid.

show abstract

Section: Relative Quantitative Importance Of Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 69%

Spatial patterns of diatom diversity and community structure in ancient Lake Ohrid

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This outcome leads to questions regarding the need for distinct lake-diatom assessment tools. Cantonati and Lowe (2014) highlighted similarities in the physical and biological pressures encountered by biofilms in the littoral zones of lakes and in rivers. In our study, the TDI metric calibrated on a river data set (Kelly et al 2008a) was strongly correlated with the LTDI but had a distinctly different response when applied to our lake data set.…”

Section: Do Diatoms Respond Differently In Lakes and Rivers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The river TDI used in our study fared better, perhaps because of its origin as an index of inorganic, rather than organic, enrichment (Kelly and Whitton 1995). Some taxa do appear to be more strongly associated with either lakes (e.g., Epithemia spp., some Cymbella species) or rivers (Hannaea arcus), but most diatoms are opportunistic and exploit the similarities between lake littoral zones and river beds (Cantonati and Lowe 2014). Thus, river metrics do offer a potential alternative to lake-specific metrics (Kahlert and Gottschalk 2014).…”

Section: Do Diatoms Respond Differently In Lakes and Rivers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of ecological status in UK lakes using benthic diatoms

Bennion

Kelly²,

Juggins

et al. 2014

Freshwater Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Many biotic indices, such as the Biological Diatom Index in France (Coste et al, 2009) were developed and are now standardized and routinely applied. More effort has been done to improve the monitoring using benthic diatoms in rivers than in lakes (Cantonati and Lowe, 2014). However, from several years things changed and some authors applied existing river diatoms indices to the littoral zone of lakes (Blanco et al, 2004;Bolla et al, 2010;Cellamare et al, 2011) while others developed new tools based on diatoms communities (Schaumburg et al, 2007;Stenger-Kovács et al, 2007;Marchetto et al, 2013;Bennion et al, 2014) to respond to the demands of lakes assessment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, from several years things changed and some authors applied existing river diatoms indices to the littoral zone of lakes (Blanco et al, 2004;Bolla et al, 2010;Cellamare et al, 2011) while others developed new tools based on diatoms communities (Schaumburg et al, 2007;Stenger-Kovács et al, 2007;Marchetto et al, 2013;Bennion et al, 2014) to respond to the demands of lakes assessment. Indeed, whereas phytoplankton is considered as the main ecological indicator on lakes, and usually is used to assess the overall lake quality, littoral diatoms demonstrated their efficiency to assess point source pollution and to be early warning of lake's deterioration (Cantonati and Lowe, 2014;Rimet et al, 2016). Moreover, they can show a better ability to assess lake's trophic level than pelagic phytoplankton (Rimet et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic diatom communities in high altitude lakes: a large scale study in the French Alps

Feret¹,

Bouchez²,

Rimet³

2017

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-Altitude lakes are weakly impacted by human activities. This makes them choice ecosystems to understand how biological communities are impacted by natural factors. This question was addressed to littoral benthic diatoms, a largely used ecological indicator. We wanted to know if benthic diatoms in lakes are more impacted by local varying factors (altitude, lake depth...) or regional varying factors (geology). The study area takes place in the Northern French Alps. Littoral benthic diatoms of 63 natural lakes situated between 1350 and 2700 m · a.s.l. were sampled. Two categories of communities were observed: one of deep and lower altitude lakes and one of higher altitude and shallower lakes. In each category, communities were characterized and were corresponding to particular lake types: lakes dominated by a particular geology, lakes with a water level fluctuation, turbid lakes,... Communities did not show a spatial structure. We observed that local factors were more important than regional factors. Indeed, the study area displayed a mixed geology even at a local level. On another hand, altitude a local varying factor determines freezing period a determining item of high-altitude lake functioning.

show abstract

Lake benthic algae: toward an understanding of their ecology

Cited by 108 publications

References 67 publications

Spatial patterns of diatom diversity and community structure in ancient Lake Ohrid

Spatial patterns of diatom diversity and community structure in ancient Lake Ohrid

Assessment of ecological status in UK lakes using benthic diatoms

Benthic diatom communities in high altitude lakes: a large scale study in the French Alps

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About