An attempt to measure longitudinal connectivity based on the community structure of phytoplankton

At present, there are few studies on the quantitative analysis of connectivity from the perspective of biocenology. This study aimed to develop a new quantitative assessment method for river connectivity based on the analysis of the effect of river connectivity on the phytoplankton community in the Shaying River, which has multiple gates. The results showed that from the view of the phytoplankton density and biomass, cryptophytes were the dominant phytoplankton group, but the cyanobacteria density was highest in the summer. In the top 10 of degrees of dominance, there were 4 species of cyanobacteria, 3 species of cryptophytes, 2 species of diatoms, and 1 species of chlorophytes. Based on the seasonal compositions and variations of the phytoplankton community, the river barriers had a great effect on the community. The community composition of the Shaying River has been transformed from a river-type community dominated by diatoms to a lake-type community dominated by cyanophytes. PCA (principal component analysis) indicated that there were obvious differences in the community structure among the sections partitioned by various river gates. According to the relative positions of the entire phytoplankton community and the relative sequence of the river gates, a potential gradient representing the river connectivity can be found; thus, the river connectivity can be quantitatively described from the perspective of the phytoplankton community, and hereby, the corresponding quantitative methods can be established. Characterizing the connectivity of rivers based on biota will facilitate assessing the effects of multiple barriers and understanding river connectivity, and provide the support for the effective management of rivers.