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Validating biogeographical theory for protists: Distribution pattern in Europe

Subject Area Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
Term from 2016 to 2020
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 327839085
 
Final Report Year 2021

Final Report Abstract

Distinct patterns of geographical distribution in plants and animals have interested naturalists and biologists ever since Humboldt and Darwin. Microorganisms have mostly been neglected in this respect and been considered to be omnipresent. The advent of molecular techniques to characterize morphologically indistinguishable taxa has revolutionized the scale at which we nowadays can infer past dispersal processes. This extends especially to protists and bacteria. Here, we analyzed one of the largest datasets for the genetic diversity of protists with about 250 lakes densely sampled across Europe from southern Spain and Greece to Scandinavia and from lowlands to high altitudes. We employed Illumina High-Throughput- Sequencing of rDNA and various methods to detect distribution patterns and infer processes. By these means, we were able to detect biogeographic provinces for European protists, which are, however, less distinct than in larger animals. Thus, dispersal and anthropogenic activity seem to have a greater influence on distribution of protists than for larger organisms. Consequently, refugia in southern Europe, such as those seen in larger organisms, have a lesser role nowadays in protists and we see relatively distinct communities south and north of the Alps. Nevertheless, we could determine some taxon-specific patterns, such as areas of high diversity for Dinophyceae in the Baltic region or Chrysophyceae in Scandinavia, which allows specialists in the future to focus in more detail on subgroups of protists in especially diverse regions. Less important for the explanation of diversity are also alpine areas. Alpine specialists evolve repeatedly from lowland taxa and do not speciate as fast as lowland taxa. We compared patterns also with bacteria and started to analyze seasonal variation in protist diversity. The project provided the basis for further analyses of specific protist groups in Europe and also allow characterization of the diversity of protist communities on European scale. This is important for conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

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