Data for Patterns and drivers of Nothobranchius killifish diversity in lowland Tanzania

Temporary pools are seasonal wetland habitats with specifically adapted biota, including annual Nothobranchiuskillifishes that survive habitat desiccation as diapausing eggs encased in dry sediment. To understand the patterns in the structure of Nothobranchius assemblages and their potential in wetland conservation, we compared biodiversity components (alpha, beta, gamma) between regions and estimated the role and sources of nestedness and turnover on their diversity. We sampled Nothobranchius assemblages from 127 pools across seven local regions in lowland Eastern Tanzania over two years, using dip net and seine nets. We estimated species composition and richness for each pool, and beta and gamma diversity for each region. We decomposed beta diversity to nestedness and turnover components. We tested nestedness in three main regions (Ruvu, Rufiji, Mbezi) using the number of decreasing fills metric and compared the roles of pool area, isolation and altitude on nestedness. A total of 15 s...