Distinct multitrophic biodiversity composition and community organization in a freshwater lake and a hypersaline lake on the Tibetan Plateau

• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110124
• Publication Date: 2024-05-27T16:46:23Z
• Authors: Si-Yu Zhang; Qi Yan; Jindong Zhao; Yongqin Liu; Meng Yao
• Keywords: Limnology; Lake ecosystem

Alpine lakes play pivotal roles in plateau hydrological processes but are highly sensitive to climate change, yet we lack comprehensive knowledge of their multitrophic biodiversity patterns. Here, compared the characteristics diverse taxonomic groups across water depths and surface sediments from a freshwater lake hypersaline on northwestern Tibetan Plateau. Using multi-marker environmental DNA metabarcoding, detected 134 cyanobacteria, 443 diatom, 1,519 invertebrate, 28 vertebrate taxa. Each group had substantially different community composition two lakes, differences were also found between within each lake. Cooccurrence network analysis revealed higher complexity, lower modularity, fewer negative cohesions lake, suggesting that high salinity may destabilize ecological networks. Our results provide first holistic view under contrasting levels reveal structural networks impact ecosystem resilience.