Using trait-based approaches to study phytoplankton seasonal succession in a subtropical reservoir in arid central western Argentina

Abstract

The application of trait-based approaches has become a widely applied tool to analyse community assembly processes and dynamics in phytoplankton communities. Its advantages include summarizing information of many species without losing essentials of the main driving processes. Here, we used trait-based approaches to study phytoplankton temporal succession in a subtropical reservoir. We applied a combined approach including morphological traits (i.e. volume, surface) and functional clustering of species (morphology-based functional groups (MBFG) and Reynolds' groups) and related the clustering of species with the environment. We found that this reservoir is characterized by a low richness and a bimodal distribution of phytoplankton biomass. Taxonomic and functional classifications were coincident, and the dominant species and groups biomasses were explained by the same group of variables. For instance, group X₂, MBFG V and Carteria sp. biomasses were explained by: pH, Secchi disk depth, N-NH₄; while group B, MBFG VI and Cyclotella ocellata biomasses were explained by stability of the water column, incident solar radiation, Secchi disk depth and N-NH4. From our results, we state that functional and taxonomic classifications are complementary rather than opposed approaches, and their specific uses depend exclusively on the aim of the study and the characteristics of the environment under evaluation. Our work is the first description of phytoplankton dynamics in a reservoir in the arid central western Argentina (Cuyo region).

Classification of Reynolds phytoplankton functional groups using individual traits and machine learning techniques

“…Subsequently, the scheme has been expanded and revised to accommodate associations represented among a wider number of environments from different continents (e.g. Allende & Izaguirre, ; Beamud, León, Kruk, Diaz, & Pedrozo, ; Bouvy et al., ; Costa, Huszar, & Ovalle, ; Devercelli, ; Devercelli & O'Farrell, ; Hu, Han, & Naselli‐Flores, ; Huszar, Kruk, & Caraco, ; Huszar & Reynolds, ; Komàrkovà & Tavera, ; Kruk, Mazzeo, Lacerot, & Reynolds, ; Martinet, Descloux, Guédant, & Rimet, ; Padisák & Reynolds, ; Rangel, Soares, Paiva, & Silva, ). The classification was originally named as Trait‐Separated Functional Groups (Reynolds, , ; Reynolds, Huszar, Kruk, Naselli‐Flores, and Melo ).…”

Water quality assessment of a temperate urban lagoon using physico-chemical and biological indicators

“…More recently, the approach provided by functional groups began to be used. These classifications cluster species with common traits and similar responses to environmental changes and have been proposed for phytoplankton by several authors, such as Abonyi et al [2], Beamud et al [6], Kruk et al [47], Padisák et al [64], Reynolds [70], Reynolds et al [71] and Salmaso and Padisák [78]. A particularly influential functional classification is that proposed by Reynolds et al [71] since it is based not only on the individual functional traits but also on the ranges of the environmental conditions in which the species are found.…”

Algal Bloom Exacerbates Hydrogen Sulfide and Methylmercury Contamination in the Emblematic High-Altitude Lake Titicaca

“…The species is probably Carteria multifilis because it has four equally sized flagella, contractile vacuole near the base of the flagellum and anterior eyespot ( Figure S1A). Such algae is a relatively common free-living chlorophyte observed almost everywhere on the globe [69][70][71][72], but was never reported before in the Lake Titicaca. Nearby records include Brazil [73,74] and Argentina [69,75].…”

“…Such algae is a relatively common free-living chlorophyte observed almost everywhere on the globe [69][70][71][72], but was never reported before in the Lake Titicaca. Nearby records include Brazil [73,74] and Argentina [69,75]. The genus was previously reported as the main algae involved in freshwater blooms [70,76].…”