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Varying patterns on varying scales: A metacommunity analysis of nematodes in European lakes

Autor(en)
Dümmer, Birgit ; Ristau, Kai ; Traunspurger, Walter
Normierter Zeitschriftentitel
PLOS ONE 
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0151866
ISSN
1932-6203
PubMed-ID
27008422
URN
urn:nbn:de:0070-pub-29019939
URL
https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2901993
Web of Science-ID
000372701200072

Ecological community patterns are often extremely complex and the factors with the greatest influence on community structure have yet to be identified. In this study we used the elements of metacommunity structure (EMS) framework to characterize the metacommunities of freshwater nematodes in 16 European lakes at four geographical scales (radius ranging from 80 m to 360 km). The site characteristics associated with site scores indicative of the structuring gradient were identified using Spearman rank correlations. The metacommunities of the 174 nematode species included in this analysis mostly had a coherent pattern. The degree of turnover increased with increasing scale. Ordination scores correlated with geographical variables on the larger scales and with the trophic state index on a regional scale. The association of the structuring gradient with spatial variables and the scale-dependent increase in turnover showed that nematode dispersal was limited. The different metacommunity patterns identified at the increasing geographical scales suggested different, scale-related mechanisms of species distribution, with species sorting dominating on smaller and mass effects on larger geographical scales.

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