Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain

Hydrological connectivity is fundamental determinant of aquatic metacommunity structure, but the potential response to altered patterns of connectivity in a changing climate remain poorly understood, particularly in regards to vulnerable systems such as Arctic deltaic lakes. Here we present the first study to examine the metacommunity structure of aquatic invertebrates in a major Arctic floodplain system (Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories). We sampled macroinvertebrate communities across the longitudinal span of the Delta and utilized three complementary techniques (variance partitioning, elements of metacommunity structure, and fourth corner analysis) to determine the relative influence of environmental versus spatial variation, metacommunity structure across dispersal modes, and the functional metacommunity structure. Environmental factors explained the most variation (23%) compared to spatial factors (2%) or environmental/spatial covariance (4%). Functional structure was primari..., , # Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.3ffbg79wh](10.5061/dryad.3ffbg79wh)

## Description of the data and file structure

Benthic invertebrate samples from Mackenzie Delta lakes were collected between 28 July and 15 August, 2015. Three replicate samples collected using a 3-minute kick-and-sweep method using a 500 μm D-net over approximately 1 m^2. 500 individuals were randomly sorted from each replicate. Water data from surface water samples collected on the same day.

### Files and variables

#### File: MDMCenv.csv

**Description:** Environmental and water chemistry variables for each site.

##### Variables

* : Site names
* Closure: Coded closure categories. 1 = No closure (connected), 2 = Low closure (frequently flooded), 3 = High closure (highly isolated).
* Peri: Lake perimeter (m)
* Area: Lake area (km^2)
* Temp: Temperature (C)
* DO: Dissolved oxygen (mg/L)
* Cond: Specific conductivit...,