First circumpolar assessment of Arctic freshwater phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity: Spatial patterns and environmental factors

• Published in: Freshwater Biology
• Main Authors: Schartau, Ann Kristin, Mariash, Heather L., Christoffersen, Kirsten S., Bogan, Daniel, Dubovskaya, Olga P., Fefilova, Elena B., Hayden, Brian, Ingvason, Haraldur R., Ivanova, Elena A., Kononova, Olga N., Kravchuk, Elena S., Lento, Jennifer, Majaneva, Markus, Novichkova, Anna A., Rautio, Milla, R__hland, Kathleen M., Shaftel, Rebecca, Smol, John P., Vrede, Tobias, Kahilainen, Kimmo K.
• Other Authors: Russian Foundation for Basic Research
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: Arctic; Faroe Islands; Canada; Greenland; Norway; Climate change; Fennoscandia; Iceland; Phytoplankton; Zooplankton; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13783; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/fwb.13783; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/fwb.13783

Abstract Arctic freshwaters are facing multiple environmental pressures, including rapid climate change and increasing land___use activities. Freshwater plankton assemblages are expected to reflect the effects of these stressors through shifts in species distributions and changes to biodiversity. These changes may occur rapidly due to the short generation times and high dispersal capabilities of both phyto___ and zooplankton. Spatial patterns and contemporary trends in plankton diversity throughout the circumpolar region were assessed using data from more than 300 lakes in the U.S.A. (Alaska), Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to assess spatial patterns of plankton diversity focusing on pelagic communities; (2) to assess dominant component of __ diversity (turnover or nestedness); (3) to identify which environmental factors best explain diversity; and (4) to provide recommendations for future monitoring and assessment of freshwater plankton communities across the Arctic region. Phytoplankton and crustacean zooplankton diversity varied substantially across the Arctic and was positively related to summer air temperature. However, for zooplankton, the positive correlation between summer temperature and species numbers decreased with increasing latitude. Taxonomic richness was lower in the high Arctic compared to the sub___ and low Arctic for zooplankton but this pattern was less clear for phytoplankton. Fennoscandia and inland regions of Russia represented hotspots for, respectively, phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity, whereas isolated regions had lower taxonomic richness. Ecoregions with high __ diversity generally also had high __ diversity, and turnover was the most important component of __ diversity in all ecoregions. For both phytoplankton and zooplankton, climatic variables were the most important environmental factors influencing diversity patterns, consistent with previous studies that examined shorter ...