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Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Eutrophication weakens the positive biodiversity–productivity relationship of benthic diatoms in plateau lakes

Yun Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9455-4711 A B , Yihan Zhao B , Yanling Li B , Xiaodong Wu C , Janne Soininen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8583-3137 D and Jun Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2481-1409 E *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Hubei Key Laboratory of Edible Wild Plants Conservation and Utilisation, College of Life Sciences, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, 435002, PR China.

B Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, PR China.

C College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, 435002, PR China.

D Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

E College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, PR China.

* Correspondence to: wangjun89@mail.hzau.edu.cn

Handling Editor: Simon Mitrovic

Marine and Freshwater Research 75, MF24063 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF24063
Submitted: 23 March 2024  Accepted: 23 August 2024  Published: 19 September 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

Freshwater primary productivity is threatened by the decline in biodiversity associated with nutrient enrichment, but there is still uncertainty about how the biodiversity and productivity relationship (BPR) varies with the trophic states.

Aims

We aimed to examine the variation of benthic diatom BPRs in three plateau lakes with different trophic states and their underlying driving mechanisms.

Methods

We examined the relationship between diatom taxonomic and functional diversity, niche width, and niche overlap with productivity.

Key results

The taxonomic and functional diversity, niche width and productivity of benthic diatoms were highest in the mesotrophic lake. The benthic diatom BPRs were linear and positive, with the slope of BPRs being the lowest in eutrophic lake. Motile, non-attached and small-sized diatoms were dominant in eutrophic lake. Nutrient concentrations indirectly affected primary productivity by influencing algal community structure, niche width and biodiversity change.

Conclusions

Diatom productivity and diversity showed a positive relationship, but nutrient enrichment weakened this relationship. By combining taxonomic and functional diversity indices, supplemented by niche analysis, we can further understand the variation of diatom productivity.

Implications

The results provide a basis for predicting the changes in BPRs of benthic diatoms in the littoral zone with different trophic states.

Keywords: biodiversity–productivity relationship, diatoms, niche, nutrient gradient, plateau lakes, functional trait, motile, small sized.

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