What is it about?
Algae are key primary producers in wetlands. We have found that local species richness of algae is much higher in the Okavango Delta than in the Everglades, probably due to the latter being a younger ecosystem located in a peninsula and being subject to smaller anthropogenic impacts. We identified 80 indicator taxa of varying hydrological and nutrient conditions (phosphorus concentrations).
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Why is it important?
This study is an example of how comparative research on community structure can be done despite the lack of standardized goals and protocols and provides baseline data for future algal species diversity and composition assessments.
Perspectives
To write this article, I pulled together data on >940 samples of algae and relative data on environmental conditions from my Ph.D. and Postdoctoral work. Over ~1.5 years, I worked with my advisors in London and Miami to define and test hypotheses, choose the data analysis methods (e.g., the species richness estimators that allowed us to meaningfully compare richness from samples counted in different ways) and interpret the results based on ecological theory. This was a multi-layer study in which we also classified algal species according to their life-history strategies in a novel way by using indicator species analysis.
Dr. Luca Marazzi
Earthwatch Europe
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Algal richness and life-history strategies are influenced by hydrology and phosphorus in two major subtropical wetlands, Freshwater Biology, December 2016, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/fwb.12866.
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