Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain
Hydrological connectivity is a fundamental determinant of aquatic metacommunity structure. However, the potential response to altered patterns of connectivity in a changing climate remain poorly understood, particularly in regard to vulnerable systems such as Arctic deltaic lakes. Here, we present t...
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| Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Arctic Science |
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| Online Access: | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2024-0064 |
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| author | Ryan W. Scott Sapna Sharma Xiaowa Wang Roberto Quinlan |
| author_facet | Ryan W. Scott Sapna Sharma Xiaowa Wang Roberto Quinlan |
| author_sort | Ryan W. Scott |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hydrological connectivity is a fundamental determinant of aquatic metacommunity structure. However, the potential response to altered patterns of connectivity in a changing climate remain poorly understood, particularly in regard to vulnerable systems such as Arctic deltaic lakes. Here, we present the first study to examine the metacommunity structure of aquatic invertebrates in a major Arctic floodplain system (Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories). We sampled macroinvertebrate communities across the longitudinal span of the Delta and used three complementary analyses (variance partitioning, elements of metacommunity structure, and fourth corner analysis) to determine the relative influence of environmental versus spatial variation, metacommunity structure across dispersal modes, and the functional metacommunity structure. Environmental factors explained the most variation (23%) compared to spatial factors (2%) or environmental/spatial covariance (4%). Functional structure was primarily related to macroinvertebrate dispersal mode and lake isolation, with distributions of aerial dispersers determined mainly by environmental factors and aquatic dispersers by both dispersal limitation and environmental factors. We attribute these results to the inter-lake mixing effects of annual flooding and the lack of barriers to aerial dispersal, and discuss how a loss of aquatic invertebrate biodiversity could result from projected climate-mediated alterations to ice jam dynamics in the Delta. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-31bf59e1eafd4215b948476a35498456 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2368-7460 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
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| series | Arctic Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-31bf59e1eafd4215b948476a354984562025-08-20T03:13:30ZengCanadian Science PublishingArctic Science2368-74602025-01-011111410.1139/as-2024-0064Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplainRyan W. Scott0Sapna Sharma1Xiaowa Wang2Roberto Quinlan3Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, CanadaEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON, CanadaDepartment of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, CanadaHydrological connectivity is a fundamental determinant of aquatic metacommunity structure. However, the potential response to altered patterns of connectivity in a changing climate remain poorly understood, particularly in regard to vulnerable systems such as Arctic deltaic lakes. Here, we present the first study to examine the metacommunity structure of aquatic invertebrates in a major Arctic floodplain system (Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories). We sampled macroinvertebrate communities across the longitudinal span of the Delta and used three complementary analyses (variance partitioning, elements of metacommunity structure, and fourth corner analysis) to determine the relative influence of environmental versus spatial variation, metacommunity structure across dispersal modes, and the functional metacommunity structure. Environmental factors explained the most variation (23%) compared to spatial factors (2%) or environmental/spatial covariance (4%). Functional structure was primarily related to macroinvertebrate dispersal mode and lake isolation, with distributions of aerial dispersers determined mainly by environmental factors and aquatic dispersers by both dispersal limitation and environmental factors. We attribute these results to the inter-lake mixing effects of annual flooding and the lack of barriers to aerial dispersal, and discuss how a loss of aquatic invertebrate biodiversity could result from projected climate-mediated alterations to ice jam dynamics in the Delta.https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2024-0064Mackenzie Deltametacommunitieshydrological connectivitybenthic macroinvertebratesclimate change |
| spellingShingle | Ryan W. Scott Sapna Sharma Xiaowa Wang Roberto Quinlan Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain Arctic Science Mackenzie Delta metacommunities hydrological connectivity benthic macroinvertebrates climate change |
| title | Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain |
| title_full | Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain |
| title_fullStr | Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain |
| title_short | Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain |
| title_sort | hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an arctic delta floodplain |
| topic | Mackenzie Delta metacommunities hydrological connectivity benthic macroinvertebrates climate change |
| url | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2024-0064 |
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