Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.

ABSTRACT: Large rivers represent a significant component of inland waters and are considered sentinels and integrators of terrestrial and atmospheric processes. They represent hotspots for the transport and processing of organic and inorganic material from the surrounding landscape, which ultimately impacts the bio-optical properties and food webs of the rivers. In large rivers, hydraulic connectivity operates as a major forcing variable to structure the functioning of the riverscape, and--despite increasing interest in large-river studies--riverscape structural properties, such as the underwater spectral regime, and their impact on autotrophic ecological processes remain poorly studied. Here we used the St. Lawrence River to identify the mechanisms structuring the underwater spectral environment an

SUBMITTER: Frenette JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3340396 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature