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Sustainability
Volume 18
Issue 2
10.3390/su18020939
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Functional Diversity Indices and Aquatic Macrophyte Community Assembly: Case Study of Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve, Ukraine

by
Hanna Tutova
1,
Olena Lisovets
2,
Olha Kunakh
2,*,
Anastasiia Zymaroieva
1,3,
Jens-Christian Svenning
3 and
Olexander Zhukov
2
1
Department of Botany, Ecology and Horticulture, Bogdan Khmelnytskyi Melitopol State Pedagogical University, 72300 Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
2
Faculty of Biology and Ecology, Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Gagarin av., 72, 49000 Dnipro, Ukraine
3
Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2026, 18(2), 939; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020939
Submission received: 14 December 2025 / Revised: 6 January 2026 / Accepted: 14 January 2026 / Published: 16 January 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Background: Functional diversity of aquatic macrophytes can provide mechanistic insight into community assembly beyond taxonomic diversity metrics. Aims: We tested whether functional diversity indices can help infer the dominant processes shaping macrophyte communities along hydromorphological and physicochemical gradients, and whether these signals remain interpretable after accounting for species richness. Methods: We surveyed aquatic macrophytes in the Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve (Ukraine) during four field campaigns in 2024 (453 sampling sites), measured key environmental characteristics, and calculated functional diversity indices from plant trait data. Results: The indices showed distinct responses consistent with environmental filtering, dispersal limitation related to reduced hydrological connectivity, and biotic interactions. Anthropogenic degradation was associated with functional simplification and shifts toward opportunistic trait syndromes. Conclusions: A complementary set of functional diversity indices can distinguish major community assembly mechanisms in macrophyte assemblages and supports more robust assessment of ecosystem condition under combined natural and anthropogenic pressures.
Keywords: functional traits; ecosystem processes; species interactions; habitat filtering; hemeroby; Ukraine; aquatic macrophytes; environmental water quality criteria functional traits; ecosystem processes; species interactions; habitat filtering; hemeroby; Ukraine; aquatic macrophytes; environmental water quality criteria

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tutova, H.; Lisovets, O.; Kunakh, O.; Zymaroieva, A.; Svenning, J.-C.; Zhukov, O. Functional Diversity Indices and Aquatic Macrophyte Community Assembly: Case Study of Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve, Ukraine. Sustainability 2026, 18, 939. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020939

AMA Style

Tutova H, Lisovets O, Kunakh O, Zymaroieva A, Svenning J-C, Zhukov O. Functional Diversity Indices and Aquatic Macrophyte Community Assembly: Case Study of Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve, Ukraine. Sustainability. 2026; 18(2):939. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020939

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tutova, Hanna, Olena Lisovets, Olha Kunakh, Anastasiia Zymaroieva, Jens-Christian Svenning, and Olexander Zhukov. 2026. "Functional Diversity Indices and Aquatic Macrophyte Community Assembly: Case Study of Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve, Ukraine" Sustainability 18, no. 2: 939. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020939

APA Style

Tutova, H., Lisovets, O., Kunakh, O., Zymaroieva, A., Svenning, J.-C., & Zhukov, O. (2026). Functional Diversity Indices and Aquatic Macrophyte Community Assembly: Case Study of Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve, Ukraine. Sustainability, 18(2), 939. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020939

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