Data from: The effect of hydroperiod and predation on the diversity of temporary pond zooplankton communities

In temporary pond ecosystems, it is hypothesized that the two dominant
structuring forces on zooplankton communities are predation and
demographic constraints due to wetland drying. Both of these forces are
deterministic processes that act most strongly at opposing ends of a
hydroperiod gradient. Our objective was to test how these two processes
affect α- and β-diversity of zooplankton communities derived from a
diverse temporary pond system. We hypothesized that decreased hydroperiod
length and the presence of salamander larvae as predators would decrease
β-diversity and that intermediate hydroperiod communities would have the
greatest species richness. Our 1-year mesocosm experiment (n = 36)
consisted of two predation treatments (present/absent) and three
hydroperiod treatments (short/medium/long) fully crossed, seeded from the
resting egg bank of multiple temporary ponds. In total, we collected 37
species of microcrustacean zooplankton from our mesocosms. A reduction in
hydroperiod length resulted in lower α-diversity, with short-hydroperiod
treatments affected most strongly. Endpoint community dissimilarity
(β-diversity) was greatest in the medium-hydroperiod treatment with regard
to species presence/absence, but was greatest in the long-hydroperiod
treatment when abundances were included. Predation by salamander larvae
led to reduced β-diversity with respect to species presence/absence, but
not among abundant species, and had no effect on α-diversity. Our results
suggest that environmental changes that reduce hydroperiod length would
result in reduced α-diversity; however, intermediate hydroperiod length
appear to enhance β-diversity within a group of wetlands.