Loss of lateral hydrological connectivity impacts multiple facets of molluscan biodiversity in floodplain lakes

Lateral hydrological connectivity (LHC) is a key process in maintaining aquatic biodiversity in river floodplain ecosystems. However, the effects of LHC loss on aquatic biodiversity are rarely studied. Here, we evaluated, for the first time, the responses of multiple facets (i.e., taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic) of alpha and beta diversity of freshwater molluscs to the LHC loss in 23 floodplain lakes in the Yangtze River Basin in China. Our results showed that taxonomic and functional alpha diversities were all significantly higher in connected lakes (CLs) than in disconnected lakes (DLs), whereas phylogenetic alpha diversity (delta+) was lower in CLs than in DLs. For beta diversity facets, taxonomic (T beta(sor)) and phylogenetic (P beta(sor)) dissimilarities were slightly more contributed by the turnover component or equally contributed by the turnover and nestedness-resultant components both in CLs and DLs. Instead, functional beta diversity (F beta(sor)), generally showing much lower values than T beta(sor) and Pfisor, was mainly contributed by the nestedness-resultant component (76.6-84.0%), especially in DLs. We found that only functional dissimilarities were significantly higher in DLs than CLs, indicating a high level of functional diversity loss without replacement of species possessing traits sensitive to hydrological disconnection (i.e., large body size, lamellibranch body form, filter feeding, ovoviviparity and burrowing habits). In general, lake area, hydrological connectivity, aquatic vegetation coverage and nutrient levels (TN and TP) played important roles in structuring variation in molluscan alpha and beta diversities, although the three diversity facets responded to different environmental factors. Our results suggest that loss of connectivity to the mainstem river has negative impacts on molluscan assemblages in floodplain lakes. More importantly, as taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversities responded somewhat differently to the loss of hydrological connectivity, all of these biodiversity facets should be better incorporated into aquatic biodiversity assessment and conser-vation programs in large river floodplains.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the responses of multiple facets (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic) of freshwater molluscs to the loss of lateral hydrological connectivity in floodplain lakes in the Yangtze River Basin. The results showed that functional diversity was significantly higher in connected lakes compared to disconnected lakes, indicating a high level of functional diversity loss without replacement. Lake area, hydrological connectivity, aquatic vegetation coverage, and nutrient levels played important roles in shaping molluscan alpha and beta diversities.