Freshwater Bacterioplankton Metacommunity Structure Along Urbanization Gradients in Belgium.

ABSTRACT: Urbanization is transforming and fragmenting natural environments worldwide, driving changes in biological communities through alterations in local environmental conditions as well as by changing the capacity of species to reach specific habitats. While the majority of earlier studies have been performed on higher plants and animals, it is crucial to increase our insight on microbial responses to urbanization across different spatial scales. Here, using a metacommunity approach, we evaluated the effects of urbanization on bacterioplankton communities in 50 shallow ponds in Belgium (Flanders region), one of the most urbanized areas in Northwest Europe. We estimated the relative importance of local environmental factors (35 abiotic and biotic variables), regional spatial factors and urbaniza

SUBMITTER: Hanashiro FTT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6473040 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature