Effects of connectivity and watercourse distance on temporal coherence patterns in a tropical reservoir.
Environ Monit Assess
; 190(10): 566, 2018 Sep 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30178164
ABSTRACT
Temporal coherence exists when environmental variables measured at different spatial locations vary synchronously over time. This is an important property to be analyzed because levels of coherence may indicate the role of regional and local processes in determining population and ecosystem dynamics. Also, studies on temporal coherence may guide the optimal allocation of sampling effort. We analyzed a dataset from a monitoring program undertaken at a tropical reservoir (Peixe Angical Reservoir, State of Tocantins, Brazil) to test three predictions. First, coherence should be a common pattern in the reservoir considering that sampling sites were distributed in a single water body and over a small spatial extent. Second, coherence was expected to decline with increasing watercourse distance and to increase with hydrological connectivity. Third, abiotic variables should exhibit higher coherence than biological variables. Twenty limnological variables were monitored at 14 sites and for 31 months. We found significant levels of coherence for all variables, supporting our first prediction. Watercourse distances, hydrological connectivity, or both were significant predictors of coherence for 17 environmental variables. In all these cases, the signs of the coefficients were in the direction predicted. Interestingly, for some environmental variables (color, turbidity, alkalinity, and total phosphorus), hydrological connectivity was even more important in predicting coherence than watercourse distance. The view that abiotic variables should exhibit higher coherence than biological variables was supported. Our analyses revealed that precipitation was an important factor inducing coherence of a key set of environmental variables, highlighting the role of regional processes in ecosystem dynamics.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Movimentos da Água
/
Zooplâncton
/
Água
/
Meio Ambiente
/
Água Doce
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Monit Assess
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil