Spatial patterns of zooplankton diversity in riverine floodplains

CHAPARRO, GRISELDA N.; ROBERT PTACNIK ; ZSÓFIA HORVÁTH; THOMAS HEIN; O'FARRELL, INÉS

Torino

Congreso; SIL 2016; 2016

Understanding the spatial distribution of species diversity is a main interest of ecology and its relevance is enhanced under the current scenario of progressive diversity loss. Despite the relevance of spatial scale is increasingly recognized in biodiversity studies, there is still a lack of understanding on how combined environmental variations at smaller and broader scales influence diversity in a certain region. We studied spatial patterns of zooplankton diversity in riverine floodplains from the Upper Danube River in Austria, with the aim to understand how regional diversity is composed and assess the association between beta-diversities and environmental heterogeneity at different spatial scales. We performed a field sampling using a hierarchical multi-scale approach, with particular emphasis on distinct vegetated habitats as hosts of zooplankton diversity. The sampling design included 1- different habitat patches (open waters, submerged, floating-leaved and emergent macrophytes) to account for the variability within water sections and 2- different water sections along a gradient of connectivity with the main river to account for the variability among water sections in the floodplain wetlands. We included three wetlands within the Donau Auen National Park area, where river flooding is still operative and one isolated wetland in an impounded section of the river and compared the patterns among them. We performed the sampling once during summer 2014 after a flood event and once during summer 2015 when no flood occurred. Preliminary results indicate that regional diversity is very high and similar at flooded and non-flooded conditions and that beta-diversity among water sections is the main contributor to zooplankton regional diversity in both hydrological conditions. We are currently exploring the relationship between diversity and environmental heterogeneity at each spatial scale and assessing the influence of local environmental and spatial factors on the composition of these communities.