Turbidity, Waterfowl Herbivory, and Propagule Banks Shape Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Ponds.

ABSTRACT: The aquatic vegetation in nutrient-rich shallow lakes and ponds is structured by the interplay of multiple biotic and abiotic drivers. We tested the contribution of the macrophyte propagule bank and the delayed as well as direct impact of waterbirds on submerged aquatic vegetation in a peri-urban pond system. To clarify the functional hierarchy of predictor variables, effects of herbivorous waterfowl and propagule bank potential were ranked relative to environmental, phytoplankton, and zooplankton indicators. Two aspects of the aquatic vegetation - community composition and total pond-scale cover - were discriminated. Within vegetation communities, phytoplankton biovolume and waterfowl herbivory during summer were linked to low macrophyte abundance, whereas propagule density of angiosperms

SUBMITTER: Van Onsem S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6232765 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature