Seasonal changes of plankton community and its influencing factors in subtropical coastal marine areas revealed by eDNA-based network analysis

Xiaoqi Lin, Kunhuan Li, Hancheng Zhao, Yan Gao, Zonghang Zhang, Lin Wang, Xinjie Wang, Edmond Sanganyado, Zhao Zheng, Qilin Gutang, Sailan Liu, Ping Li, Xiuli Yan, Zhaoyun Chen, Jianqing Lin*, Wenhua Liu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Introduction: Coastal marine ecosystems are among the most ecologically and socio-economically dynamic regions on Earth, and the study of eukaryotic planktonic communities is an important aspect of aquatic ecology. It is essential to monitor plankton biodiversity and identify influencing factors in order to measure human effects on coastal waters and help contribute to ecosystem preservation. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding analysis is an advanced toolfor detecting the presence of aquatic organisms, which has revolutionary significance for biodiversity monitoring and real-time detection of wild environments.

Methods: In this study, eDNA metabarcoding was used to study seasonal changes in eukaryotic plankton communities in subtropical coastal waters of the northern South China Sea, to explore how various trophic groups affect the complexity and stability of the species network.

Results: The results showed that the summer interaction network is looser and had has reduce biodiversitycompared to the spring interaction network. As an important part of the planktonic community, the abundance and diversity of algae reflect the interactions between different species and the influence of environmental factors on the dominant species, particularly temperature and nutrients. In addition, producer diversity set the basis for species network complexity and indirectly affected network stability, while consumer diversity and its flexible predation strategies may directly lead to differences in network stability across seasons. There were close correlations among species interaction, environmental factors and species diversity.

Discussion: This study can help us understand the ecosystem functions throughout the year and the complex interactions of planktonic communities from a multiple trophic level perspective, and provide effective methods for sustainable resource utilization and ecological environmental protection in the future.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1416359
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalFrontiers in Marine Science
Volume11
Early online date5 Sept 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Sept 2024

Keywords

  • multitrophic levels
  • seasonal changes
  • environmental DNA
  • co-occurrence network
  • plankton community
  • subtropical marine ecologcial system

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