title: Patterns and multi-scale drivers of phytoplankton species richness in temperate peri-urban lakes.
abstract: Local species richness (SR) is a key characteristic affecting ecosystem functioning. Yet, the mechanisms regulating phytoplankton diversity in freshwater ecosystems are not fully understood, especially in peri-urban environments where anthropogenic pressures strongly impact the quality of aquatic ecosystems. To address this issue, we sampled the phytoplankton communities of 50 lakes in the Paris area (France) characterized by a large gradient of physico-chemical and catchment-scale characteristics. We used large phytoplankton datasets to describe phytoplankton diversity patterns and applied a machine-learning algorithm to test the degree to which species richness patterns are potentially controlled by environmental factors. Selected environmental factors were studied at two scales: the lake-scale (e.g. nutrients concentrations, water temperature, lake depth) and the catchment-scale (e.g. catchment, landscape and climate variables). Then, we used a variance partitioning approach to evaluate the interaction between lake-scale and catchment-scale variables in explaining local species richness. Finally, we analysed the residuals of predictive models to identify potential vectors of improvement of phytoplankton species richness predictive models. Lake-scale and catchment-scale drivers provided similar predictive accuracy of local species richness (R(2)=0.458 and 0.424, respectively). Both models suggested that seasonal temperature variations and nutrient supply strongly modulate local species richness. Integrating lake- and catchment-scale predictors in a single predictive model did not provide increased predictive accuracy; therefore suggesting that the catchment-scale model probably explains observed species richness variations through the impact of catchment-scale variables on in-lake water quality characteristics. Models based on catchment characteristics, which include simple and easy to obtain variables, provide a meaningful way of predicting phytoplankton species richness in temperate lakes. This approach may prove useful and cost-effective for the management and conservation of aquatic ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: UMR7245 MCAM MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CC 39, 12 rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05, France. Electronic address: arnocat@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catherine
authors.affiliation: UMR7245 MCAM MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CC 39, 12 rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05, France. Electronic address: maloufi@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: Maloufi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Selma
authors.affiliation: UMR 9190 MARBEC UM2-CNRS-IRD-UM1-IFREMER, CC 93, Place Eugène Bataillon, Université de Montpellier 2, F-34095 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: david.mouillot@univ-montp2.fr.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mouillot
authors.affiliation: UMR 9190 MARBEC UM2-CNRS-IRD-UM1-IFREMER, CC 93, Place Eugène Bataillon, Université de Montpellier 2, F-34095 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: troussel@univ-montp2.fr.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Troussellier
authors.affiliation: UMR7245 MCAM MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CC 39, 12 rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05, France. Electronic address: cbernard@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bernard
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002947:Cities; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D060106:Lakes / Q000032:analysis*; D010297:Paris; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D012621:Seasons
keywords: Lake- and catchment-scale; Phytoplankton; Productivity–diversity relationship; Random forest; Residuals analysis; Species richness