Diversity and distribution across a large environmental and spatial gradient: evaluating the taxonomic and functional turnover, transitions and environmental drivers of benthic diatom communities

Aim: Global biodiversity loss has raised interest in understanding variation in diversity at different scales. Especially studies conducted across large spatial gradients are crucial, because they can increase perspectives on how ecological patterns change relative to environmental factors, and facilitate predictions of possible responses to environmental change. We explored the full extent of a brackish sea to test the hypotheses that (i) benthic communities are defined by species’ limited ranges, controlled by varying drivers along a large environmental gradient, (ii) the responses of taxonomic and functional community composition and turnover to the environmental gradient are different, thus highlighting the need to include both measures in ecological studies, and (iii) diversity reaches the minimum at intermediate salinities (Remane curve) due to the low adaptation of freshwater and marine species.

Location: A large environmental and spatial gradient spanning the entire Swedish c...