Two coexisting tank bromeliads host distinct algal communities on a tropical inselberg

Abstract

The tank bromeliads Aechmea aquilega (Salisb.) and Catopsis berteroniana (Schultes f.) coexist on a sun-exposed Neotropical inselberg in French Guiana, where they permit conspicuous freshwater pools to form that differ in size, complexity and detritus content. We sampled the algal communities (both eukaryotic and cyanobacterial taxa, including colourless forms) inhabiting either A. aquilega (n = 31) or C. berteroniana (n = 30) and examined differences in community composition and biomass patterns in relation to several biotic and abiotic variables. Chlorella sp. and Bumilleriopsis sp. were the most common taxa and dominated the algal biomass in A. aquilega and C. berteroniana, respectively. Using a redundancy analysis, we found that water volume, habitat complexity and the density of phagotrophic protozoa and collector-gatherer invertebrates were the main factors explaining the distribution of the algal taxa among the samples. Hierarchical clustering procedures based on abundance and presence/absence data clearly segregated the samples according to bromeliad species, revealing that the algal communities in the smaller bromeliad species were not a subset of the communities found in the larger bromeliad species. We conclude that, even though two coexisting tank bromeliad populations create adjacent aquatic habitats, each population hosts a distinct algal community. Hence, bromeliad diversity is thought to promote the local diversity of freshwater algae in the Neotropics.