Investigating the relative effects of local environment and spatial processes on a pond network metacommunity using a bombcrater model system

Our study examined the relative effect of space and environment on biodiversity in a small-scale (< 1km) pond network. We focused on a well-delineated pond metacommunity consisting of 54 bombcrater ponds. We investigated the influence of the local environment and network position using closeness centrality and Moran's Eigenvector Maps on species richness and metacommunity structure. We analysed the effect across multiple organism groups including prokaryotes (16S), microeukaryotes (18S), zooplankton, macroinvertebrates and amphibians. Our findings show that spatial processes play a role in structuring metacommunities even in a network which is relatively small. The study has conservation implications as it highlights the need of protecting ponds as parts of a network rather than focusing on individual habitats.