Abstract
Phytoplankton functional traits can represent particular environmental
conditions in complex aquatic ecosystems. Categorizing phytoplankton
species into functional groups is challenging and time-consuming, and
requires high-level expertise on species autecology. In this study, we
introduced an affinity analysis to aid identification of candidate
associations of phytoplankton from two datasets comprised of
phytoplankton and environmental information. In the Huaihe River Basin
with a drainage area of 270,000 km2 in China, samples were collected
from 217 selected sites during the low-water period in May 2013; monthly
samples were collected during 2006-2011 in a man-made pond, Dishui Lake.
Our results indicated that the affinity analysis can be used to define
some meaningful functional groups. The identified phytoplankton
associations reflect the ecological preferences of phytoplankton in
terms of light and nutrients acquisition. Advantages and disadvantages
of applying the affinity analysis to identify phytoplankton associations
are discussed with perspectives of their utility in ecological
assessment.