Identification of the main factors in structuring rotifer community assemblages in ponds of Doñana National Park using the amino acid composition of the species

摘要

The use of the role of the species in the habitat (the niche), as an alternative to systematics for studying the processes that determine which and how many species live in a specific habitat (community assembly), is an approach that has been limited by the difficulties in the characterization of the niche. The aim of this study was to identify the determining factors in rotifers’ assemblage in several ponds, using the amino acid composition (AAC) of the species as a fingerprint of the differential niche usage. We found that species with a similar AAC and, hence, with a similar trophic niche, spatially co-exist, showing that trophic-niche differentiation is not a main factor in structuring these lentic associations. The negative relationship between amino acid separation and spatial overlap among rotifer species can be considered as evidence that habitat filtering (abiotic factors) is the factor responsible for the assemblages.