Two basic ecological relationships, herbivory and competition, distinctively influence terrestrial ecosystem characteristics, such as plant cover, species richness and species composition. We conducted a cage experiment under natural conditions in an aquatic ecosystem to test the impacts of two treatments combined in a factorial manner: (i) a pulse treatment - removal of dominant competitors among primary producers (macroalgae Chara sp. and Vaucheria sp.), and (ii) a press treatment - preventing herbivore (fish, crayfish) access to caged plots. The plots were sampled once before the treatments were established and four more times within two years. Both treatments had a significantly positive impact on macrophyte cover and species richness and changed the macrophyte species composition. The effect of the macroalgae removal was immediate with the highest species richness occurrence during the first post-treatment monitoring, but the positive effect vanished with time. In contrast, preventing herbivore access had a gradual but long-lasting effect and reached a more steady-state over time. Two of the most common species showed contrasting responses, the palatable Potamogeton pectinatus was most supported by caging, while the distasteful Myriophyllum spicatum preferred open plots. Our findings may be applicable during the revitalisation of aquatic ecosystems that aims to increase macrophyte biodiversity.

• MeSH
• biodiverzita * MeSH
• býložravci fyziologie   MeSH
• Chara fyziologie   MeSH
• distribuce rostlin * MeSH
• jezera MeSH
• rdestovité fyziologie   MeSH
• regenerace a remediace životního prostředí MeSH
• ryby fyziologie   MeSH
• severní raci fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH