Niche congruency of aquatic macrophytes in central North America with respect to 5 water chemistry parameters

Abstract

The occurrences of aquatic macrophytes were studied at 430 sites in central North America with respect to total alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, molybdenum reactive phosphorus and dissolved organic matter. Mean niche positions were calculated for the combination of 5 parameters by comparing mean values for each species using agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis. Overall niche relations were examined by calculating and summing the amount of overlap in the observed ecological tolerance ranges for the 5 parameters for each species pair, and applying cluster and principal component analysis. The results showed that the macrophytes occupied a broad spectrum of niches, ranging from species found at low inorganic concentrations and narrow tolerance ranges, to species occupying broad ranges in the study area. Species with similar overall niches differed with respect to their mean niche positions, and vice versa. Macrophytes with similar niche positions may use a number of strategies to reduce interspecific competition.

Predicting aquatic macrophyte occurrence in soft-water oligotrophic lakes (Pyrenees mountain range)

“…Although several studies have focused on determining the environmental variables affecting soft-water macrophytes (Seddon, 1972;Toivonen and Huttunen, 1995;Pulido et al 2012b), only a handful of studies (Pip, 1988;Heegaard et al, 2001) reported optimum ranges for a relevant number of species found in this study (I. lacustris, S. angustifolium, M. alterniflorum, P. berchtoldii, P. alpinus). Nonetheless, optimum ranges for parameters such as pH and conductivity can also be inferred from other studies, including Seddon (1972) and Toivonen and Huttunen (1995).…”

“…Indeed, carbon metabolism arises as the main driving factor determining species distribution in softwater lakes. The isoetid I. lacustris grows at the lowest conductivity and pH values, and occurs within a very narrow range of water conductivity, featuring a specialized and very vulnerable species (Pip, 1988). I. lacustris behaves similarly throughout its biogeographical distribution range (Toivonen and Huttunen, 1995;Heegaard et al, 2001;Pulido et al, 2012b) and holds particular structural and physiological adaptations to ensure an efficient use of CO 2 for the photosynthesis (Rascio, 2002).…”

“…These two apparent discontinuities may be the consequence of inter-specific interactions that modulate ecological optima and tolerance ranges in such a way that inter-specific competition is reduced (Pip, 1984(Pip, , 1988. Within each range group, species with similar conductivity tolerance range have slightly different optimums, also suggesting niche segregation and optimum exclusion to minimize competition.…”

The Relationships Between Environmental Factors and the Submerged Potametea Associations in Lakes of North-eastern Poland

“…Similar observations were made by Wiegleb (1978). A number of authors (Moyle, 1945;Kadono, 1982;Pip, 1988;De Lyon & Roelofs, 1986;Papastergiadou & Babalonas, 1993a, b;Vastergaard & Sand-Jensen, 2000) reported that Ceratophyllum demersum was associated with hard, strongly alkaline waters. The present findings are in agreement with those of Pietsch (1982) in the case of Ranunculetum circinati (the connection with hard alkaline waters, markedly rich in Na + and K + ), Potametum lucentis (relatively wide range of pH, waters rich in Ca 2+ and SO 4 2) , but poor in total Fe), Myriophylletum spicati (waters rich in Cl ) ), Potametum perfoliati (waters with high Ca 2+ concentrations), Myriophylletum verticillati (habitats poor in PO 4…”

Aquatic macrophyte composition in relation to environmental factors of irrigation ponds around Lake Shinji, Shimane, Japan

“…Comparative studies of aquatic vegetation between stagnant water bodies have long been attracting many investigators (Hutchinson 1975), and the correlations between species occurrence and environmental factors have been examined in many geographical regions (Fassett 1930;Moyle 1945;Swindale & Curtis 1957;Spence 1967;Collins & Likens 1969;Seddon 1972;Crowder et al 1977;Wiegleb 1978;Jenstn 1979;Pip 1979Pip , 1984Pip , 1987Pip , 1988Hellquist 1980;Felzines 1982;Kadono 1987a;Hamashima 1983a, b;Kerekes et al 1984;Catling etal. 1986;Jackson & Charles 1988).…”