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Article: Environmental predictors of benthic consumers and autotrophic communities along a recovery gradient.
- Article from:
- Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
- Article date:
- October 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 NRC Research Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Abstract: Ecological theory predicts that biological factors replace abiotic regulation of community structure during recovery from ecosystem stress. We examined relationships between benthic autotroph (epilithic periphyton) and consumer communities, and environmental variables, along a gradient of six recovering acidified lakes to identify the best explanatory variables of community structure. Dissolved organic carbon, pH, and total dissolved phosphorus were important predictors of autotrophic biomass, while total dissolved phosphorus was the only significant factor explaining variation in consumer biomass. Abiotic factors (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, pH) were also ...
<6) of recovery from acidification (Vinebrooke et al. 2003a). However, autotrophic responses to abiotic improvements become variable within and between lakes at pH>