TY - JOUR

T1 - First circumpolar assessment of Arctic freshwater phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity

T2 - Spatial patterns and environmental factors

AU - Schartau, Ann Kristin

AU - Mariash, Heather L.

AU - Christoffersen, Kirsten S.

AU - Bogan, Daniel

AU - Dubovskaya, Olga P.

AU - Fefilova, Elena B.

AU - Hayden, Brian

AU - Ingvason, Haraldur R.

AU - Ivanova, Elena A.

AU - Kononova, Olga N.

AU - Kravchuk, Elena S.

AU - Lento, Jennifer

AU - Majaneva, Markus

AU - Novichkova, Anna A.

AU - Rautio, Milla

AU - Rühland, Kathleen M.

AU - Shaftel, Rebecca

AU - Smol, John P.

AU - Vrede, Tobias

AU - Kahilainen, Kimmo K.

N1 - Funding Information: This study is a result of the first circumpolar assessment of Arctic freshwater biodiversity performed by the Freshwater Group of the CBMP, a working group under the CAFF. The contribution by Elena Fefilova and Olga Kononova was done within the frame of the State Tasks of the Animals Ecology Department of the Institute of Biology, Komi SC UrD RAS (AAAA‐A17‐117112850235‐2), and partly financially supported by the RFBR grant: 20‐04‐00145_a (to E.F.). All other data providers are also thanked for their contribution to this paper, including the Institute of Biophysics of Federal Research Center Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (project No. 51.1.1), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) programme, University of Copenhagen, the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA). We thank Trine W. Perlt (University of Copenhagen, Denmark); Zofie Cimburova and Inta Dimante‐Deimantovica (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research); Laura Forsström (University of Helsinki/Ministry of Environment, Finland); Christian Schwarz (Utrecht University, The Netherlands); and Brianna Levenstein (University of New Brunswick, Canada) for assistance with data formatting, nomenclature and data analysis. We wish to thank Sarah Laske (USGS Alaska Science Center) and three anonymous reviewers for commenting on a previous version of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Freshwater Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - 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 β 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 α diversity generally also had high β diversity, and turnover was the most important component of β 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 temperature gradients. However, barriers to dispersal may have also played a role in limiting diversity on islands. A better understanding of how diversity patterns are determined by colonisation history, environmental variables, and biotic interactions requires more monitoring data with locations dispersed evenly across the circumpolar Arctic. Furthermore, the importance of turnover in regional diversity patterns indicates that more extensive sampling is required to fully characterise the species pool of Arctic lakes.

AB - 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 β 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 α diversity generally also had high β diversity, and turnover was the most important component of β 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 temperature gradients. However, barriers to dispersal may have also played a role in limiting diversity on islands. A better understanding of how diversity patterns are determined by colonisation history, environmental variables, and biotic interactions requires more monitoring data with locations dispersed evenly across the circumpolar Arctic. Furthermore, the importance of turnover in regional diversity patterns indicates that more extensive sampling is required to fully characterise the species pool of Arctic lakes.

KW - ecoregions

KW - latitude

KW - taxonomic richness

KW - temperature

KW - α diversity

KW - β diversity

U2 - 10.1111/fwb.13783

DO - 10.1111/fwb.13783

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85108593139

VL - 67

SP - 141

EP - 158

JO - Freshwater Biology

JF - Freshwater Biology

SN - 0046-5070

IS - 1

ER -