In this picture, are both of the Nymphaea species found in Finland: N. alba ssp. candida and Nymphaea tetragona. These species are found in our temporal lake data of aquatic macrophytes from five different decades (1940s to 2010s). In our study, we aimed to discover if vascular aquatic macrophyte communities show different spatial patterns in beta diversity in relation to land use and environmental characteristics in different decades. Our results did not show signs of a decreasing trend in spatial beta diversity or either biotic homogenisation or biotic differentiation, during the past 70 years. Our findings suggest that lakes across the boreal region and areas that have faced glaciation and postglacial processes might be resistant against moderate levels of human pressure. Photo by Marja Lindholm. Full paper here.

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