Drivers of zooplankton functional and taxonomic β-diversity in two neotropical floodplains: implications for conservation

• Published in: Biodiversity and conservation Vol. 33; no. 13; pp. 3905 - 3922
• Main Authors: Amaral, Diogo Castanho, de Fátima Bomfim, Francieli, Lansac-Tôha, Fábio Amodêo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-11-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Conservation; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Dam construction; Dams; Drought; Ecology; Ecosystem services; Floodplains; Food availability; Food supply; Heterogeneity; Hydrology; Interspecific relationships; Lakes; Life Sciences; Original Research; Plankton; Predation; Taxonomy; Zooplankton; Hydrologic regime; Environmental heterogeneity; Ecosystem functioning; Dams
• DOI: 10.1007/s10531-024-02935-5
• EISSN: 1572-9710
• ISSN: 0960-3115

Floodplains are among the most biodiverse systems on the planet and offer several ecosystem services; however, they are threatened by anthropic actions such as dam construction. We investigated zooplankton taxonomic and functional β-diversity, environmental heterogeneity, and the drivers of β-diversity in response to the hydrological period in the Amazon (without dams) and Paraná (with several dams) floodplains. We also discuss the implications of biodiversity-environment relationships for ecological conservation. We sampled 36 lakes during the drought and rainy periods (72 samples). The 180 zooplankton taxa found were classified into six functional traits. We calculated taxonomic and functional β-diversity (total, replacement, and richness) and the importance of different drivers (physical-chemical variables, food availability, predation, and spatial component). We also determined the environmental heterogeneity in each floodplain and hydrological period. The functional and taxonomic β diversity of the zooplankton community exhibited different patterns in response to the hydrological period. The Amazon floodplain presented greater environmental heterogeneity but not greater beta diversity. The Paraná floodplain presented the lowest functional β diversity during the drought period, where predation and the spatial component were the variables that most explained this variation. A greater contribution of replacement, regardless of the hydrological period, should lead to efforts to preserve as many lakes as possible in both floodplains, as they present unique compositions of species and traits. We emphasize the need to plan conservation strategies in these floodplains, especially considering that dams can lead to homogeneous environmental and biological conditions.