Taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional β-diversity of stream algae is driven by the number of added nutrients and herbivory

A growing body of mostly observational research has examined how β-diversity and its turnover and nestedness components respond to environmental gradients across taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions. To our knowledge, this is the first manipulative investigation to assess how two major environmental influences—nutrient enrichment and herbivory—control β-diversity and its components across dimensions in phototrophs. We used algal data from field and lab experiments, manipulating herbivory and/or the number of added nutrients (NAN), which ranged from zero to three (N, P, and Fe) or four (N, P, Fe, and Mn). We compared control/nutrient treatment vs. control communities and non-grazed vs. grazed communities in terms of taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity. Taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity (βSor) was partitioned into turnover (βSim) and nestedness (βNes) components. We proposed a novel partitioning approach for functional β-diversity, outperforming the conven..., , # Data from: Taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional β-diversity of stream algae is driven by the number of added nutrients and herbivory

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.pk0p2nh2c](10.5061/dryad.pk0p2nh2c)

## Description of the data and file structure

**The Llano dataset.** We obtained data from a previously conducted field experiment with algae in the Llano River, TX. The number of added nutrients, ranging from zero (control) to four (treatment), was manipulated by adding agar only or agar enriched with N, P, Fe, Mn, or all their combinations to clay dishes. Malathion was added to half of the dishes for herbivory suppression. Control and each nutrient treatment had three replicates per Malathion treatment (16 nutrient combinations x 3 replicates x 2 Malathion treatments = 96 dishes). The dishes were deployed in the river, and after 42 days, algae were scraped from the flat surface of the dishes. Algae were identified and measured for a biovolume estimate. The_Llano_dataset.csv contains ...,