Data from: Zooplankton species diversity in the temporary wetland system of the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA

Understanding how diverse species communities develop and how the species
within them coexist is one of the central questions in community ecology.
The temporary wetland system occurring on the Savannah River Site near
Aiken, South Carolina is home to the most species rich temporary wetland
zooplankton assemblage known in the world. While previous research has
documented this remarkable diversity, there has been little study directed
at understanding how diversity is distributed at the landscape and local
scales or on investigating potential mechanisms of what has led to the
high richness of this system. The collection of studies presented here
examine diversity patterns in the zooplankton community, links these
patterns to spatial and temporal variation, experimentally tests the
effects of two important environmental factors on diversity, and describes
two new species. Results indicate that long hydroperiod lengths were
associated with high species richness. Wetlands with similar species
assemblages were generally closer together, suggesting the importance of
dispersal. Over the course of a year, diversity increased during the
spring and summer months and declined toward the fall, these changes were
associated with low pH, low conductivity, and high water temperature.
Vegetated areas within wetlands had greater diversity than did unvegetated
areas, and diversity was particularly low in areas of decaying vegetation.
Temporal comparisons provide evidence for distinct seasonal communities
that arise every year. Experimental tests of the impact of hydroperiod
length on diversity found that shorter hydroperiods resulted in reduced
species richness, and communities dominated by just a few species.
Predation was found to have no effect on diversity or community
composition. During investigation of the diversity of these wetlands, two
new species of the genus Chydorus were discovered and described. These two
species differ from congeners both in morphology and phylogenetically.
Together these studies describe how environmental variation can impact the
diversity of the zooplankton communities within temporary wetlands and
show how hydroperiod limits the richness of these systems. The results
presented here provide insight into the forces that may lead to diverse
communities in temporary wetlands, providing direction for future research
into these dynamic ecosystems.