A0267
Title: Modelling symbiotic species richness from invertebrate aquatic hosts using generalized linear and additive models
Authors: Svitlana Shvydka - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia) [presenting]
Volodimir Sarabeev - Institute of Parasitology (Slovakia)
Mykola Ovcharenko - Institute of Biology and Science of Earth (Poland)
Maria Zdimalova - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia)
Abstract: The data on parasites and epibiotic organisms from the gammarid (Amphipoda) hosts were analyzed by the GLM and GAM. In order to understand the dynamics of symbiotic communities in the host, the species richness was analysed at the individual level by applying Poisson distributions. As explanatory covariates, host characteristics and density, water parameters, geographical locality and habitat type were used. The best models showed that the richness of the whole symbiotic community was positively associated with host body length and concentration of nitrates in water (0.03-1.6 mg/dm3), but negatively with temperature (1.5-15C), pH (7.1-8.4) and total phosphorus (0.04-0.23 mg/dm3). Host species, habitat and locality also had a significant effect on the symbiotic species richness. There was no significant association of the species richness with water parameters (conductivity, concentration of chlorophylla, nitrogen, organic nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, organic phosphorus, mineral phosphorus) and host density. The modelling approach using both types of models, the GLM and GAM, offers a reliable tool for understanding the effect of biotic and abiotic factors on the species richness of symbiotic organisms. S.S. and V.S. are funded by the EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under project Nos. 09I03-03-V01- 00029 and 09I03-03-V01-00017, respectively.
