Microeukaryotic habitat specialists exhibit stronger determinism and biodiversity-nutrient cycling relationship than generalists in a subtropical river.

ABSTRACT: Microeukaryotic generalists and specialists exhibit varying levels of environmental sensitivity, which contribute differently to community dynamics and are important for aquatic ecosystem functioning. However, the community assembly, co-occurrence network, and impacts of microeukaryotic generalists and specialists' diversity on ecosystem functions remain poorly understood in riverine ecosystems. Here, we investigated the microeukaryotic generalists and specialists along a subtropical river. Our results showed that specialists were more controlled by deterministic processes compared with generalists. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that microeukaryotic specialists were more interconnected and contributed more to maintaining network stability. More importantly, microeukaryotic specia

SUBMITTER: Li L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12542682 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature