6 research outputs found
A review of assessment methods for river hydromorphology
The work leading to this paper has received funding for the EU’s FP7 under Grant Agreement No. 282656 (REFORM
Community assembly of rotifers based on morphological traits
Trait patterns can give insights into how
communities assemble under a functional perspective.
We constructed a rotifer trait matrix related to food
acquisition and predator defence and calculated Rao’s
quadratic entropy (Q) as an index of functional
diversity to investigate trait patterns in different layers
(0–2, 5–35, 0–35 m) for a 5-year dataset of Lake
Tovel, Italy. Trait patterns were determined by
comparing Qobserved to Q from random communities.
While trait patterns can be determined by species
traits, richness, and abundance, in most samples,
irrespective of layer, trait patterns could be solely
attributed to traits indicating their importance for
community assembly. Trait convergence dominated in
the upper layer, while trait divergence dominated in
the lower layer. Using logistic regression, we related
trait patterns to environmental parameters. In the
lower layer, trait divergence was linked to competition
for food while trait convergence was linked to
copepod predation. However, in the upper layer
neither competitors nor predators influenced trait
patterns, and we suggest that ultraviolet radiation
and temperature were the main drivers of trait
convergence. Our study indicated that environmental
filtering drove rotifer trait patterns in the upper layer,
whereas species interactions drove trait patterns in the
lower layer