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Eutrophication and drought disturbance shape functional diversity and life-history traits of aquatic plants in shallow lakes

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Abstract

Theories that link plant strategies and abiotic filters discriminate between three strategies: competitive, ruderal or stress-tolerant species, and suggest that functional diversity is higher at intermediate values along the gradients of productivity and disturbance. The mechanism by which abiotic filters screen plant traits in aquatic plant communities has been poorly tested and has led to contrasting results. The present study aimed to test whether functional diversity and abundance of life-history traits corresponding to morphology, fecundity and longevity of aquatic plants were linked to disturbance and productivity. Fifty-nine shallow lakes that were arranged along a gradient of productivity (estimated through total phosphorus concentration) and drought-disturbance frequency were sampled for aquatic plants. Species traits were documented and functional diversity was calculated (richness, dispersion and evenness) for each lake. Increasing total phosphorus concentration was associated with decreased functional richness and dispersion but not functional evenness. Functional diversity did not differ according to disturbance frequency, regardless of the index that was measured. High productivity favoured floating species with storage organs and vegetative reproduction, especially at low disturbance frequency. For all disturbance frequencies, low productivity favoured small species without storage organs and sexual reproduction. The present study partly supports the theoretical model. At high productivity levels, because phytoplankton is a better competitor for light than aquatic plants, plant traits are screened stringently, and species with traits that allow them to reach the photic zone are selected.

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Acknowledgments

This project was founded by the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (through the DIVA2 program), the Water Agency (Agence de l’Eau Rhône-Mediterranée-Corse) and the Rhône-Alpes Region. It was done under the Aegis of the LTER “Zone Atelier Bassin du Rhône” of the CNRS. The authors gratefully acknowledge F. Vallier, M. Guerin, T. Lhuillery and S. Prestoz for their technical organisation and support during this study. Several students, including B. Ezzouaouy, E. Girard and D. Nadal provided fieldwork assistance and are also gratefully acknowledged. We also would like to thank 2 anonymous reviewers for their helpful remarks on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gudrun Bornette.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 2, 3

Table 2 Water, sediment and site parameters of samples of the shallow lakes of the Dombes region, France (Wezel et al. 2011)
Table 3 Table for the species traits according their morphology, longevity and fecundity (Grime et al. 1990; Willby et al. 2000 and personal information)

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Arthaud, F., Vallod, D., Robin, J. et al. Eutrophication and drought disturbance shape functional diversity and life-history traits of aquatic plants in shallow lakes. Aquat Sci 74, 471–481 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-011-0241-4

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