Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems

Xiao, Enze; Liu, Xiaofeng; Lou, Tian; Zhu, Yimin; Wang, Yiou; Lu, Xinxin; Fan, Yawen; Tan, Xiang; Liu, Yan

doi:10.3390/d17010026

Open AccessArticle

Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems

by

Enze Xiao

^1,2

,

Xiaofeng Liu

¹,

Tian Lou

¹,

Yimin Zhu

¹,

Yiou Wang

³,

Xinxin Lu

^1,4

,

Yawen Fan

^1,4,

Xiang Tan

^2,* and

Yan Liu

^1,4,*

¹

College of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China

²

Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China

³

Westa College, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China

⁴

Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic Organisms, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Diversity 2025, 17(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17010026

Submission received: 2 December 2024 / Revised: 29 December 2024 / Accepted: 29 December 2024 / Published: 30 December 2024

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies on Biodiversity and Ecology of Algae in China—2nd Edition)

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Abstract

Phytoplankton communities typically comprise a few dominant species and numerous rare ones, but their responses to seasonal precipitation changes remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, investigations were conducted on the environmental conditions and phytoplankton communities in the Lalin River Basin during the dry and rainy seasons. Structural equation modeling and co-occurrence network analysis were then utilized to explore the assembly processes of dominant and rare phytoplankton communities following a seasonal heavy rainfall event. Our results showed seasonal heavy rainfall events significantly altered the phytoplankton community composition and rare phytoplankton diversity (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the stochastic process was particularly pronounced for rare species (i.e., 4.44%, p < 0.01). Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that increasing precipitation enhances the complexity and stability of phytoplankton ecological networks. Additionally, the relative importance of dominant species decreases, while that of rare species increases. This phenomenon can be described as the seasonal heavy precipitation weakening the so-called “Matthew effect” in the ecosystem. In summary, our results shed light on the phytoplankton ecology of agricultural rivers and reveal how changes in precipitation influence the formation of phytoplankton sub-communities and the structure of their networks.

Keywords: precipitation; phytoplankton communities; rare taxa; network stability; stochastic process

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MDPI and ACS Style

Xiao, E.; Liu, X.; Lou, T.; Zhu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Lu, X.; Fan, Y.; Tan, X.; Liu, Y. Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems. Diversity 2025, 17, 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17010026

AMA Style

Xiao E, Liu X, Lou T, Zhu Y, Wang Y, Lu X, Fan Y, Tan X, Liu Y. Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems. Diversity. 2025; 17(1):26. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17010026

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xiao, Enze, Xiaofeng Liu, Tian Lou, Yimin Zhu, Yiou Wang, Xinxin Lu, Yawen Fan, Xiang Tan, and Yan Liu. 2025. "Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems" Diversity 17, no. 1: 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17010026

APA Style

Xiao, E., Liu, X., Lou, T., Zhu, Y., Wang, Y., Lu, X., Fan, Y., Tan, X., & Liu, Y. (2025). Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems. Diversity, 17(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17010026

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Precipitation Regulates the Assembly Processes of Rare Species in Phytoplankton Communities in River Ecosystems

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