Data for: Local contributions to beta-diversity in urban pond networks: implications for biodiversity conservation and management

Aim: An understanding of how biotic communities are spatially organised is
necessary to identify and prioritize habitats within landscape-scale
biodiversity conservation. Local Contribution to Beta diversity (LCBD)
identifies individual habitats that make a significant contribution to
beta-diversity and may have important practical implications, particularly
for conservation of habitat networks. In this study, we develop and apply
a conservation prioritisation approach based on LCBD in aquatic
invertebrate communities from 132 ponds. Location: Five urban settlements
in the UK: Halton, Loughborough, Stockport, Birmingham, Huddersfield.
Methods: We partition LCBD into richness difference (nestedness:
RichDiffLCBD) and species replacement (turnover: ReplLCBD) and identify
key environmental variables driving LCBD. We examine LCBD at two scales
relevant to conservation planning: within urban settlements and nationally
across the UK. Results: Significant differences in LCBD values were
recorded among the five settlements. In four of the five urban settlements
studied, pond sites with the greatest LCBD values typically showed high
replacement values. Significant LCBD sites and sites with high taxonomic
diversity together supported more of the regional species pool (70%-97%)
than sites with high taxonomic diversity alone (54% to 94%) or what could
be protected by the random selection of sites. LCBD was significantly
associated with vegetation shading, surface area, altitude and macrophyte
cover. Main conclusions: Conservation prioritisation that incorporates
LCBD and sites with high taxonomic diversity improves the effectiveness of
conservation actions within pond habitat networks, ensures site supporting
high biodiversity are protected, and provides a method to define a spatial
network of protected sites. Identifying new, effective conservation
approaches, particularly in urban areas where resources may be scarce and
conflicts regarding land use exist, is essential to ensure biodiversity is
fully supported and detrimental anthropogenic effects are reduced.