Drivers of zooplankton beta diversity in natural shallow lakes and artificial reservoirs in the Neotropics

Abstract

Anthropogenic stressors on aquatic environments change the relative importance of environmental conditions on spatial species distributions in a regional pool. One way to assess the spatial species distribution is measure the beta diversity. This study analyzed the difference in zooplankton beta diversity between natural lakes and artificial reservoirs, to understand whether reservoirs affect beta diversity, and the relative importance of deterministic processes for the spatial distribution of species. We measured beta diversity using Raup-Crick dissimilarity and analyzed the relative impact of environmental filters on beta diversity in 30 reservoirs and 29 shallow lakes located in Brazil, during two seasons (dry and rainy period). Rotifer beta diversity did not differ between lakes and reservoirs, while copepod beta diversity was higher in reservoirs. Environmental filters were important during the dry period for both lakes and reservoirs, indicating that deterministic processes could drive beta diversity during that season. Environmental productivity, estimated by chlorophyll-a, was associated with zooplankton beta diversity in lakes and reservoirs. The spatial turnover of zooplankton communities depended on the biological characteristics of zooplankton groups, and their responses to environmental filters.