Understanding the effects of phosphorus on diatom richness in rivers and streams using taxon-environment relationships

Changes in phosphorus concentrations affect periphytic diatom composition in streams, yet we rarely observe strong relationships between diatom richness and phosphorus. In contrast, changes in conductivity are strongly associated with differences in both diatom composition and richness. We hypothesised that we could better understand the mechanisms that control the phosphorus-richness relationship by examining relationships between phosphorus and the occurrence of individual diatom taxa, comparing these with relationships between conductivity and taxon occurrence, and documenting how niche breadths of taxa affect richness patterns. We estimated relationships between phosphorus and taxon occurrence using DNA metabarcoding data of diatoms collected from 1,811 sites distributed across the conterminous U.S.A. and contrasted patterns in these relationships with those between conductivity and taxon occurrence. The distribution of taxon optima for phosphorus was bimodal, with most optima located at either the maximum or minimum observed phosphorus concentration. The distribution of taxon optima for conductivity was unimodal. Niche breadths of taxa for phosphorus and for conductivity both generally increased with optimum values. The distribution of conductivity optima gave rise to a prominent hump-shaped relationship between richness and conductivity. The relationship between richness and phosphorus was also slightly hump-shaped, but this relationship would not be expected from the bimodal distribution of optima. Instead, we determined that broad niche breadths caused the hump-shaped relationship between richness and phosphorus. Our results highlight the nuanced effects that increased P loadings exert on diatom assemblages in rivers and streams and identify reasons that weak relationships between taxon richness and increased phosphorus have been observed. These findings allow us to better describe how excess phosphorus and subsets of taxa and their niche breadths contribute to patterns of taxa richness in diatom assemblages, and to improve the tools used to manage phosphorus pollution.

Automated summary

Changes in phosphorus concentrations have nuanced effects on periphytic diatom composition in streams, showing weak relationships with diatom richness. On the other hand, conductivity changes strongly influence both diatom composition and richness. By comparing the relationships between phosphorus and taxon occurrence with those between conductivity and taxon occurrence, as well as documenting the effects of niche breadths on richness patterns, a better understanding of the mechanisms controlling the phosphorus-richness relationship can be achieved. The findings contribute to improving the management of phosphorus pollution and describing the contributions of excess phosphorus and specific taxa with their niche breadths to diatom richness patterns.