Data from: Spatial insurance in multi-trophic metacommunities

Metacommunity theory suggests that dispersal is a key driver of diversity
and ecosystem functioning in changing environments. The capacity of
dispersal to mitigate effects of environmental change might vary among
trophic groups, potentially resulting in changes in trophic interactions
and food web structure. In a mesocosm experiment, we compared the
compositional response of bacteria, phyto- and zooplankton to a factorial
manipulation of acidification and dispersal. We found that the buffering
capacity of dispersal varied among trophic groups: dispersal alleviated
the negative effect of acidification on phytoplankton diversity
mid-experiment, but had no effect on the diversity of zooplankton and
bacteria. Likewise, trophic groups differed in whether dispersal
facilitated compositional change. Dispersal accelerated changes in
phytoplankton composition under acidification, possibly mediated by
changes in trophic interactions, but had no effect on the composition of
zooplankton and bacteria. Overall, our results suggest that the potential
for spatial insurance can vary among trophic groups.