Biology subjects

Vad, C. F.

Publications and source records attributed to Vad, C. F..

10 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Connectivity loss in experimental pond networks leads to biodiversity loss in microbial communities

Habitat fragmentation is among the most important global threats to biodiversity, however, the direct effects of its components including connectivity loss are still lesser known. Our understanding of these drivers is especially limited in microbial communities. Here, by conducting a four-month outdoor experiment with artificial pond (mesocosm) metacommunities, we studied the effects of connectivity loss on planktonic prokaryote and microeukaryote communities. Connectivity loss was simulated by stopping the dispersal among local habitats while keeping the habitat amount constant and the abiotic environment homogeneous. We found that connectivity loss led to higher levels of extinction and a decrease in both local and regional diversity in microeukaryotes. In contrast, diversity patterns of prokaryotes remained largely unaffected, with some indications of extinction debt. Connectivity loss also led to lower evenness in microeukaryotes, likely through changes in biotic interactions with zooplankton grazers. Our results imply that connectivity loss can directly translate into species losses in communities and highlight the importance of conserving habitat networks with sufficient dispersal among local habitats.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Mapping planktonic communities: a network approach to assess the role of scale and centrality on their diversity and composition

The distribution of habitats across a landscape and their centrality gradient are key elements defining the effective pathways of dispersal, and thus of metacommunity assembly. Understanding how centrality shapes diversity patterns is essential for predicting the impact of future landscape changes on diversity. While alpine lakes have been extensively studied, often considering the fluvial network as a potential landscape, small planktonic communities have frequently been overlooked as potential dispersers due to their assumed ubiquity. In this study, we investigate the diversity patterns of alpine lake planktonic communities along lake networks constructed at different scales, ranging from 6.5 to 650 km and the fluvial network. We sampled 55 lakes in the northern Alps (16S, 18S, phytoplankton and zooplankton) and calculated several diversity metrics (alpha, beta diversity and LCBD) and multivariate analysis. We then constructed several networks responding to different scales, determined their centrality gradients, and finally explored their relationship with the diversity of each planktonic group. We expected that a groups diversity would relate differently across scales based on body size, but the outcomes were varied. Bacterioplankton and zooplankton diversity were both affected across scales higher than 100 km, whereas phytoplankton appeared completely unrelated to centrality. Nonetheless, we could observe that when significant, the relationships between diversity and centrality were shared among organisms. These findings not only underscore that planktonic organisms are influenced by landscape configurations larger than the fluvial system but also emphasise the critical role of dispersal for these groups and the scales at which it impacts metacommunity assembly. Significance statementWhile dispersal is widely recognized as a key driver of assembly, some groups and systems remain insufficiently explored to fully grasp the impact of landscape and dispersal on their assembly. Planktonic communities have traditionally been considered ubiquitous and detached from regional-level structure, primarily due to their small size, leading to the notion that "everything is everywhere". Additionally, alpine lake communities have traditionally been perceived as solely connected through fluvial systems. In this study, we challenge these notions by demonstrating how planktonic communities are indeed influenced by the relative positioning of lakes in the landscape, with significant impacts occurring at larger scales, spanning hundreds of kilometres. However, not all planktonic groups responded uniformly to the analysed factors, emphasizing the marked differences among groups and the diverging drivers shaping planktonic metacommunities.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Effects of urbanisation, habitat characteristics, and management on garden pond biodiversity: a citizen science approach

The rapid expansion of urban areas often leads to degradation, fragmentation, and loss of natural habitats, threatening biodiversity. While urban ponds might contribute substantially to the biodiversity of urban blue-green infrastructure, the role of garden ponds is still largely unkown. We lack a comprehensive understanding of how local habitat features, different forms of management, and urbanisation might impact the biodiversity of these habitats. This study aimed to reveal the importance of garden ponds via a country-wide online citizen science survey in Hungary, Central Europe. Data from over 800 pond owners revealed the occurrence and local frequency of various native animal taxa (amphibians, odonates, and birds), and introduced animals (e.g., fish). We collected data about pond features and management practices. We tested the effect of pond features, pond management, and landscape-level drivers (urbanisation, surrounding wetland coverage) on the presence of conspicuous animal taxa (adult amphibians and tadpoles, birds, odonates) to identify the potential drivers of the biodiversity of garden ponds. Key pond features including pond age, area, aquatic and shoreline vegetation were the most important factors, while algaecide addition was the most influential management practice negatively affecting amphibian presence. Urbanisation negatively affected the presence of adult amphibians and their tadpoles, but it was not associated negatively with the presence of odonates and birds. Our results indicate the high potential to utilise garden ponds as urban habitats surveyed with the help of the public. Developing effective urban biodiversity monitoring and conservation strategies are necessary for a better functioning blue-green infrastructure. The high level of engagement of pond owners, as in our survey, can create valuable data for achieving these aims.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Patterns and correlates in the distribution, design and management of garden ponds along an urban-rural gradient

Urbanisation results in the loss and alteration of natural wetlands and ponds. However, garden ponds in cities and towns can act as rich reservoirs of aquatic biodiversity and stepping stones for dispersal. Homeowners with a range of different motivations, including biodiversity values, install garden ponds. Here, our main aim was to study whether the design and management choices of garden pond owners was dependent on the location of ponds (capital city vs. countryside), when ponds were installed (pond age), or whether fish were introduced. We surveyed 834 garden pond owners across Hungary using a citizen science questionnaire, asking questions on pond size, location, construction date and materials, vegetation structure, introduction of fish and management practices. From 753 validated responses, we found that the introduction of fish into ponds and high urbanisation were strongly associated with local features and management practices, especially large ponds with a water circulation feature, irrespective of pond age. A typical garden pond in Hungary is [~]20 m2, <10 years old, made of rubber (PVC) lining, contains fish, aquatic vegetation and circulating water, and is actively managed. There was a spatial separation of ponds based on local features between ponds in the capital city (Budapest) and elsewhere. These findings suggest that garden pond owners in cities are likely to make different choices in pond design and management compared to owners in regional areas. Our results also suggest that pond owners may primarily select management practices to improve habitat quality for ornamental fish. Our findings have important implications for maintaining aquatic biodiversity in urban areas, where garden ponds may be the only aquatic habitat available. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSO_LIHungarian garden ponds [≤] 200 m2 occur in both large cities and small villages C_LIO_LIMost garden ponds we sampled in Hungary were built in the last decade C_LIO_LIPond design and management differs between Budapest and regional areas C_LIO_LIPond design and management practices are influenced by ornamental fish stocking C_LIO_LIPond owners frequently drain ponds to remove sediment and leaves and use algaecides C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Regional and fine-scale local adaptation in salinity tolerance in Daphnia inhabiting contrasting clusters of inland saline waters

Understanding the spatial scales at which organisms can adapt to strong natural and human-induced environmental gradients is important. Salinisation is a key threat to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and the provision of ecosystem services of freshwater systems. Clusters of naturally saline habitats represent ideal test cases to study the extent and scale of local adaptation to salinisation. We studied local adaptation of the water flea Daphnia magna, a key component of pond food webs, to salinity in two contrasting landscapes - a dense cluster of sodic bomb crater ponds and a larger-scale cluster of soda pans. We show regional differentiation in salinity tolerance reflecting the higher salinity levels of soda pans versus bomb crater ponds. We found local adaptation to differences in salinity levels at the scale of tens of metres among bomb crater pond populations but not among geographically more distant soda pan populations. More saline bomb crater ponds showed an upward shift of the minimum salt tolerance observed across clones and a consequent gradual loss of less tolerant clones in a nested pattern. Our results show evolutionary adaptation to salinity gradients at different spatial scales and fine-tuned local adaptation in neighbouring habitat patches in a natural landscape.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Parallels and divergences in landscape genetic and metacommunity patterns in zooplankton inhabiting soda pans

Ecological processes maintaining landscape genetic variation and metacommunity structure in natural landscapes have traditionally been studied in isolation. Their integrated study may hold important information as to what extent the effect of major ecological processes are species-or landscape-specific, resulting in a more coherent picture on the spatial organization of biodiversity. Here, we explicitly compared the relative importance of spatial and environmental drivers of both cladoceran metacommunity structure as well as landscape genetic structure of its most widespread member, the water flea Daphnia magna, in soda pans of the Seewinkel region in Austria. This landscape of soda pans is characterized by strong environmental gradients and unidirectional wind acting as a key dispersal agent among these temporary habitats. Our study shows both parallels and divergences in the relative importance of local environmental sorting and spatial connectivity in determining landscape genetic versus metacommunity structure. The metacommunity is structured primarily by the environment, while in the D. magna metapopulation, the spatial signal is predominant. The much weaker environmental signal in Daphnia can be explained by the fact that the microsatellite markers are presumably neutral and was confirmed by a per-allele analysis. An important parallel between metacommunity and landscape genetic structure is the strong signal of the prevailing wind direction in determining the spatial pattern. This suggests that for both community assembly in cladocerans and population assembly in D. magna, wind plays an important role in determining connectivity among soda pans, thereby affecting dispersal and colonization rates, influencing both local species and genetic composition.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Environmental changes associated with drying climate are expected to affect functional groups of pro- and microeukaryotes differently in temporary saline waters

Temporary ponds are among the most sensitive aquatic habitats to climate change. Their microbial communities have crucial roles in food webs and biogeochemical cycling, yet how their communities are assembled along environmental gradients is still understudied. This study aimed to reveal the environmental drivers of diversity (OTU-based richness, evenness, and phylogenetic diversity) and community composition from a network of saline temporary ponds, soda pans, in two consecutive spring seasons characterized by contrasting weather conditions. We used DNA-based molecular methods to investigate microbial community composition. We tested the effect of environmental variables on the diversity of prokaryotic (bacteria, cyanobacteria) and microeukaryotic functional groups (ciliates, heterotrophic flagellates and nanoflagellates, fungi, phytoplankton) within and across the years. Conductivity and the concentration of total suspended solids and phosphorus were the most important environmental variables affecting diversity patterns in all functional groups. Environmental conditions were harsher and they also had a stronger impact on community composition in the dry spring. Our results imply that these conditions, which are becoming more frequent with climate change, have a negative effect on microbial diversity in temporary saline ponds. This eventually might translate into community-level shifts across trophic groups with changing local conditions with implications for ecosystem functioning.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Dispersal provides trophic-level dependent insurance against a heatwave in freshwater ecosystems

Climate change-related heatwaves are major recent threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, our current understanding of the mechanisms governing community resilience (resistance and recovery) to extreme temperature events is still rudimentary. The spatial insurance hypothesis postulates that diverse regional species pools can buffer ecosystem functioning against local disturbances through immigration of better adapted taxa. However, experimental evidence for such predictions from multi-trophic communities and pulse-type disturbances, like heatwaves, are largely missing. We performed an experimental mesocosm study with alpine lake plankton to test whether a dispersal event from natural lakes prior to a simulated heatwave could increase resistance and recovery of local communities. As the buffering effect of dispersal may differ among trophic groups, we independently manipulated dispersal of organisms from lower (microorganisms) and higher (zooplankton) trophic levels. The experimental heatwave suppressed total community biomass by having a strong negative effect on zooplankton biomass, probably due to a heat-induced increase in metabolic costs that in turn caused mortality. Heating thus resulted in weaker top-down control and a subsequent shift to bottom-heavy food webs. While zooplankton dispersal did not alleviate the negative heatwave effects on zooplankton biomass, dispersal of microorganism enhanced biomass recovery at the level of phytoplankton, thereby providing evidence for spatial insurance. The different response of trophic groups may be related to the timing of dispersal, which happened under strongly monopolized resource conditions by zooplankton, creating limited opportunity for competitors to establish. At the same time, the heatwave released phytoplankton from grazing pressure and increased nutrient recycling, which may have facilitated the establishment of new phytoplankton taxa. Our findings clearly show that even a short heatwave can strongly alter energy flow in aquatic ecosystems. Although dispersal can enhance community resilience, the strength of its buffering effects depends on the trophic level.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Microbial stowaways - waterbirds as dispersal vectors of aquatic pro- and microeukaryotic communities

AimWaterbirds are important dispersal vectors of multicellular organisms such as macrophytes, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and zooplankton. However, no study to date has focused on their potential role in dispersing aquatic microbial communities (i.a., bacteria, algae, protozoa). Here, we explicitly studied passive transport (endozoochory) of prokaryotes and unicellular microeukaryotes by waterbirds based on DNA metabarcoding approaches. By directly comparing the dispersed set of organisms to the source pool of a natural metacommunity, we aimed for a realistic estimate of the overall importance of waterbird zoochory for natural microbial communities. LocationShallow saline temporary ponds (soda pans) in the cross-border region of Austria and Hungary. TaxonProkaryotes and unicellular microeukaryotes. MethodsIn 2017 and 2018, water samples from 25 natural aquatic habitats along with fresh droppings of the dominant greylag goose (Anser anser) and four other waterbird species were collected in a habitat network of temporary ponds. Their prokaryotic and microeukaryotic communities were identified via 16S and 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Sequence reads were analysed using mothur. After quality filtering of the reads, pro- and microeukaryotic amplicon sequencing variant (ASV) compositions were compared between the aquatic and dropping samples, across years and waterbird species. ResultsWe found that 28% of the dominant aquatic prokaryotic and 19% of the microeukaryotic ASVs were transported by A. anser. ASV richness in A. anser droppings was lower, but compositional variation was higher compared to the aquatic communities, probably resulting from stochastic pick-up of microbes from multiple aquatic habitats. We furthermore found that the composition of prokaryotic ASVs in bird droppings were different among the two years and reflected the actual aquatic communities. The dispersed set of microbes were largely similar among the different waterbird species except for the planktivore filter-feeder northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata) which was outstanding by dispersing a more species-rich subset of microeukaryotes than shorebirds or geese. Main conclusionsBy using a combined amplicon-sequencing approach to characterize microorganisms in waterbird droppings and in the associated environment, our study provides strong evidence for endozoochory of natural aquatic microorganism communities. These results imply that waterbirds may be crucial in maintaining ecological connectivity between discrete aquatic habitats at the level of microbial communities.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

From lethal to beneficial - contrasting dietary effects of freshwater mixotrophs on zooplankton

O_LIThe importance of mixotrophic algae as key bacterivores in microbial food webs is increasingly acknowledged, but their effects on the next trophic level remain poorly understood. Their high stoichiometric food quality is contrasted by anti-grazing strategies. C_LIO_LIWe tested the quality of freshwater mixotrophs as prey for zooplankton, using four non-colonial chrysophyte species and a cryptophyte as a high quality reference food. We (1) analyzed the stoichiometric and biochemical (fatty acid) composition of the mixotrophs, and (2) quantified their dietary effects on Daphnia longispina survival. C_LIO_LISurvival of D. longispina significantly depended on the identity of species provided as food, ranging from higher to lower as compared to starvation. This was not reflected in differences in cellular stoichiometry or fatty acid profiles of the mixotrophs. We suggest that toxicity may be the driver for the observed differences. C_LIO_LIGeneralization of the dietary effects of mixotrophic chrysophytes does not appear straightforward. Besides fundamental species-specific differences, potential toxic effects may vary depending on environmental cues or physiological strategies. Notably in our study, Ochromonas tuberculata, a species previously reported to be deleterious turned out to be a beneficial food source, in terms of enabling high survival of D. longispina. C_LIO_LIWe challenge the generality of the assumption that chrysophytes are of low value as food for zooplankton. We recommend that future studies test how environmental conditions and physiological strategies shape the quality of mixotrophs as food for consumers at higher trophic levels, specifically focusing on effects of dietary toxicity. C_LI

ecology↗