Metacommunity patterns of Amazonian Odonata: the role of environmental gradients and major rivers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We identified and classified damselfly (Zygoptera) and dragonfly (Anisoptera) metacommunities in Brazilian Amazonia, relating species distribution patterns to known biological gradients and biogeographical history. We expected a random distribution of both Zygoptera and Anisoptera within interfluves. At the Amazonian scale, we expected Anisoptera metacommunities to be randomly distributed due to their higher dispersal ability and large environmental tolerance. In contrast, we expected Zygoptera communities to exhibit a Clementsian pattern, limited by the large Amazonia rivers due to their low dispersal ability.

Methods

We used a dataset of 58 first-to-third order well-sampled streamlets in four Amazonian interfluves and applied an extension of the Elements of Meta

SUBMITTER: Alves-Martins F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6507913 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature