Exotic pine invasion affects native wetland communities in the Southern Hemisphere by changing the hydrological regimen and physicochemical characteristics. Studies evaluating the emergence of aquatic invertebrates from dormant stages are vital to identify the resilience of aquatic communities in ponds invaded by exotic pine species. In the present study, we tested the hypotheses that: (1) pine invasion decreases the richness of drought-resistant aquatic invertebrates in ponds; (2) pine invasion modifies the invertebrate composition in ponds; and (3) these differences in species composition (β diversity) are associated primarily with species turnover. Dry sediment samples were collected from three natural ponds in native grassland and three ponds in a pine invasion matrix in southern Brazil. In all, 7205 invertebrates, primarily represented by cladocerans (18 species), were sampled after rewetting dry sediments. Pine invasion decreased the richness of aquatic invertebrates because the natural ponds had almost 60% more species and a higher number of estimated species than the pine ponds. The composition differed between natural and pine ponds, and this difference in species composition (β diversity) was associated primarily with the replacement of some species by others. The presence of pine appears to alter colonisation and survival rates of aquatic invertebrates that aestivate in dry sediments in southern Brazil wetlands.

The community structure of aquatic invertebrates producing dormant propagules has been associated with both local and regional-scale factors in temporary wetlands. We explore how patterns in the diversity of drought-resistant aquatic invertebrates are related to different spatial scales in ponds with distinct plant structural complexities. We tested 3 hypotheses: (1) the finest spatial scale (fine-scale diversity) has the strongest contribution to diversity and composition; (2) the fine-scale diversity will be higher in habitats that are more complex; and (3) the habitat-scale diversity has a higher contribution to regional diversity than broad-and fine-scale diversity. Dry sediment samples were collected from 3 ponds with 2 distinct plant habitats. The findings from individual partitions show that the importance of spatial scales was different between habitats. Fine-scale diversity represented a greater fraction of the total diversity for the habitat with the highest complexity, and broad-scale diversity showed a substantial contribution to total diversity in the habitat with the lowest complexity. Habitat-scale diversity contributed most to regional diversity, which underlines the importance of habitat type in the diversity of aquatic invertebrates that produce dormant propagules in temporary ponds.