A recent experiment in Lake Llebreta explored how diatom species coexist and interact under varying levels of diversity. Using 6 diatom species previously extracted and cultured in the lab from the lake, treatments included a monoculture of each individual species, one treatment combining all six species together, and controls with no diatoms.
Cultures were deployed in two contrasting areas of the lake: one at the lake entrance, fed by the river and subject to higher water velocity and greater exposure to incoming diatom propagules, and one in a more secluded area of the lake with more stable conditions.
Over a little more than a month, samples were extracted throughout the duration of the experiment to track species coexistence and interactions over time as new species entered or were competitively excluded from the cultures. These samples will now be processed for sequencing analysis to identify diatom diversity — offering insight into how diversity and dispersal from the surrounding environment shape species coexistence and competitive exclusion in high-mountain lake communities.
