Metacommunity patterns of Amazonian Odonata: the role of environmental gradients and major rivers

Abstract

Background We identified and classified damselfly (Zygoptera) and dragonfly (Anisoptera) metacommunities in Brazilian Amazonia, relating species distribution patterns to known biological gradients and biogeographical history. We expected a random distribution of both Zygoptera and Anisoptera within interfluves. At the Amazonian scale, we expected Anisoptera metacommunities to be randomly distributed due to their higher dispersal ability and large environmental tolerance. In contrast, we expected Zygoptera communities to exhibit a Clementsian pattern, limited by the large Amazonia rivers due to their low dispersal ability. Methods We used a dataset of 58 first-to-third order well-sampled streamlets in four Amazonian interfluves and applied an extension of the Elements of Metacommunity Structure (EMS) framework, in which we order Zygoptera and Anisoptera metacommunities by known spatial and biogeographic predictors. Results At the Amazonian scale, both Zygoptera and Anisoptera presented a Clementsian pattern, driven by the same environmental and biogeographical predictors, namely biogeographic region (interfluve), annual mean temperature, habitat integrity and annual precipitation. At the interfluve scale, results were less consistent and only partially support our hypothesis. Zygoptera metacommunities at Guiana and Anisoptera metacommunities at Tapajós were classified as random, suggesting that neutral processes gain importance at smaller spatial scales. Discussion Our findings were consistent with previous studies showing that environmental gradients and major rivers limit the distribution of Odonata communities, supporting that larger Amazonian rivers act as barriers for the dispersal of this group. In addition, the importance of habitat integrity indicates that intactness of riparian vegetation is an important filter shaping metacommunity structure of Amazonian stream Odonata.

Ecological drivers of Odonata beta diversity in arid and semi‐arid regions of the Central Plateau of Iran

“…The association between Zygoptera species composition and regional factors has been reported before (e.g. Heiser & Schmitt, 2009; Brasil et al ., 2014; Pires et al ., 2018; Alves‐Martins et al ., 2019). Zygoptera have smaller body sizes, lower metabolic rates, and lower dispersal ability (Corbet, 1999) than Anisoptera, as a result, they are more sensitive to ecological conditions (Pires et al ., 2018).…”

Metacommunity structure analysis reveals nested patterns in deconstructed macroinvertebrates assemblages

“…Nested structures are far from rare, as they have been reported for a number of organisms such as lake fish (Braoudakis & Jackson, 2016), dragonflies (Alves‐Martins et al ., 2019), primates (Michalski & Peres, 2005), and bats (Presley et al ., 2012). Heino and colleagues (2015a; 2015b) carried out a comparative analysis of metacommunity types in freshwater environments and found that the quasi‐nested structure was the second most frequent structure after Clementsian.…”

“…(ii) What role do environmental factors play in driving assemblage variation? In line with other metacommunity studies (Jyrkänkallio‐Mikkola et al ., 2017; Alves‐Martins et al ., 2019; Cai et al ., 2019), we focused on water quality, climate, hydrology, land cover, and physical variables. (iii) Are there differences in the metacommunity structure and influence of environmental drivers between different macroinvertebrate groups?…”

Elements of fish metacommunity structure in Neotropical freshwater streams

“…Because of this, when the whole metacommunity (core + satellite species) is analyzed, a nested subset pattern is observed, with ME operating as the structuring mechanism and distribution of fish community species correlated with local (core species) and regional (satellite species) conditions. The loss of Clementsian (core species) and clumped species (all the other metacommunities) indicate the presence of barriers responsible for the formation of subsets of communities within the metacommunity (Alves‐Martins et al, 2019). In the case of Paraná River streams, physicochemical water characteristics and main channel morphology was identified as barrier for fish species as indicated by MRT.…”