Land use and river-lake connectivity: Biodiversity determinants of lake ecosystems
Lake ecosystems confront escalating challenges to their stability and resilience, most intuitively leading to biodiversity loss, necessitating effective preservation strategies to safeguard aquatic environments. However, the complexity of ecological processes governing lake biodiversity under multi-...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Environmental science and ecotechnology 2024-09, Vol.21, p.100434, Article 100434 |
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Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | Lake ecosystems confront escalating challenges to their stability and resilience, most intuitively leading to biodiversity loss, necessitating effective preservation strategies to safeguard aquatic environments. However, the complexity of ecological processes governing lake biodiversity under multi-stressor interactions remains an ongoing concern, primarily due to insufficient long-term bioindicator data, particularly concerning macroinvertebrate biodiversity. Here we utilize a unique, continuous, and in situ biomonitoring dataset spanning from 2011 to 2019 to investigate the spatio-temporal variation of macroinvertebrate communities. We assess the impact of four crucial environmental parameters on Lake Dongting and Lake Taihu, i.e., water quality, hydrology, climate change, and land use. These two systems are representative of lakes with Yangtze-connected and disconnected subtropical floodplains in China. We find an alarming trend of declining taxonomic and functional diversities among macroinvertebrate communities despite improvements in water quality. Primary contributing factors to this decline include persistent anthropogenic pressures, particularly alterations in human land use around the lakes, including intensified nutrient loads and reduced habitat heterogeneity. Notably, river-lake connectivity is pivotal in shaping differential responses to multiple stressors. Our results highlight a strong correlation between biodiversity alterations and land use within a 2–5 km radius and 0.05–2.5 km from the shorelines of Lakes Dongting and Taihu, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of implementing land buffer zones with specific spatial scales to enhance taxonomic and functional diversity, securing essential ecosystem services and enhancing the resilience of crucial lake ecosystems.
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•Homogenization of macroinvertebrate communities despite water quality improvement.•Multiple stressors intricately and nonlinearly shape biodiversity dynamics.•Intensified human land use predominantly induces biodiversity decline.•Biodiversity shifts tied to land use within 2–5 km of Dongting and 0.05–2.5 km of Taihu shores.•Multi-scale land use planning is crucial to protecting lake ecosystems. |
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ISSN: | 2666-4984 2096-9643 2666-4984 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ese.2024.100434 |