Spatiotemporal assembly patterns of macroinvertebrate metacommunity structure in subtropical wetlands with different hydroperiods

Abstract

Understanding seasonal patterns of assembly mechanisms are key to comprehending the metacommunity dynamics of organisms inhabiting temporary habitats such as wetland macroinvertebrates. However, tests of the seasonal variation in assembly mechanisms of macroinvertebrates in wetlands with differing hydroperiods are rare, especially in the Neotropical region. We tested for seasonal patterns in the metacommunity assembly mechanisms of macroinvertebrates in small subtropical highland wetlands of southern Brazil with different hydroperiods. We also tested whether patterns varied between macroinvertebrate taxa with different dispersal modes. Macroinvertebrates were sampled in 12 wetlands classified into "short," "medium," and "long" hydroperiods (N = 4 in each category) in three seasons (fall, winter, and spring) over two full hydrological cycles (from 2012 to 2014). We assessed the role of spatial and environmental variables to metacommunity structure using distance-based redundancy analysis and variation partitioning. Environmental and spatial variables explained macroinvertebrate metacommunity structure, although their relative influence markedly changed among seasons and hydroperiods. Environmental variables were important in fall and winter, whereas spatial variables predominated in spring. Different environmental variables influenced the metacommunity structure in each hydroperiod. Environmental variables influenced active-dispersing macroinvertebrates, whereas the influence of environmental and spatial variables on passive-dispersing taxa changed among seasons. We showed that the assembly mechanisms of macroinvertebrate metacommunities show a distinct temporal dynamic among wetlands with different hydroperiods. Our findings contribute to a more complete understanding of the metacommunity structure in temporary ecosystems.

Componentes da paisagem associados à silvicultura na Mata Atlântica que influenciam a comunidade de macroinvertebrados aquáticos: um estudo de caso no sul do Brasil

“…The macroinvertebrate community composition is affected by environmental and spatial variables, thus presenting temporal changes mainly due to precipitation and temperature changes (Silveira et al, 2006;Pires et al, 2020;Santos, et al, 2020). In our study, PERMANOVA showed a significant difference between samplings (F1,11 = 2.26, p = 0.013).…”

Community variability in pond metacommunities: interactive effects of predators and isolation on stochastic community assembly

“…Therefore, our experiment should be interpreted as applying to understand the dynamics of a single such colonization cycle. Additionally, even though temporary and semi‐permanent ponds only rarely contain fish, any fish effects we find here may still represent important mechanisms of interaction and dynamics with more general application since permanent ponds are also subject to seasonal colonization dynamics (Pires et al 2021).…”

Effects of temperature and heat waves on embryonic development of annual fishes from Neotropical wetlands: Implications for climate change scenarios

“…Adopting the direct development strategy results in less time to complete development. This can be an adaptation for the high-altitude wetlands, that present shorter hydroperiod and two cycles within a season (Pires et al, 2021), to allow these species to survive in intermittent wetlands by allowing two generations of annual fish to coexist over the course of a single hydrological year (García et al, 2018;, García, Smith, et al, 2019Polačik et al, 2018).…”

“…In both regions, the annual precipitation is ~1600 mm; although both regions lack a dry season, rainfall volumes in the colder seasons of the year are larger in the Highlands, while evaporation in the Coastal Plain is higher in the warmer seasons (Alvares et al, 2013) (Table S1). Therefore, natural intermittent wetlands in the Highland Grasslands peak in their flooded areas in the winter and dry out in the late spring and summer, although they may vary in the length of their dry period from 3 to 5 months (Pires et al, 2021). In the Coastal Plain, natural intermittent wetlands are flooded for at least a 8-month time window and dry out in the summer for ~3 months (Lanés et al, 2014).…”