DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3ffbg79wh
title: Hydrological connectivity influences the aquatic metacommunity structure of an Arctic delta floodplain

description: 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
 primarily related to dispersal mode and lake isolation, with distributions
 of aerial dispersers determined mainly by environmental factors and
 aquatic dispersers by both dispersal limitation and environmental factors.
 We attribute these results to the inter-lake mixing effects of annual
 flooding and the lack of barriers to aerial dispersal, and discuss how a
 loss of aquatic invertebrate biodiversity could result from projected
 climate-mediated alterations to ice jam dynamics in the Delta.
description: # 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 conductivity (uS/cm) * pH: pH * POC: Particulate organic carbon
 (ug/L) * PON: Particulate organic nitrogen (ug/L) * F: Flouride (mg/L) *
 Cl: Chloride (mg/L) * SO4: Sulphate (mg/L) * NH3: Ammonia/ammonium (mg/L)
 * DOC: Dissolved organic carbon (mg/L) * TKN: Total kjeldahl nitrogen
 (ug/L) * TKND: Total kjeldahl nitrogen - dissolved (ug/L) * TP: Total
 phosphorus (ug/L) * TDP: Total dissolved phosphorus (ug/L) * DIC:
 Dissolved inorganic carbon (mg/L) * Chl: Chlorophyll a (ug/L) * Ca:
 Calcium (mg/L) * Mg: Magnesium (mg/L) * Na: Sodium (mg/L) * K: Potassium
 (mg/L) * Si: Silica (mg/L) #### File: MDMCsperaw.csv
 **Description:** Species counts from replicate benthic samples #####
 Variables: See file MDMCtaxonomy.csv for full taxonomic information ####
 File: MDMCtaxonomy.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * Phylum: The
 phylum of the taxa. * Subphylum: The subphylum of the taxa. If n/a or not
 identified, indicated as "-". * Class: The class of the taxa. If
 n/a or not identified, indicated as "-". * Subclass: The
 subclass of the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as
 "-". * Infraclass: The infraclass of the taxa. If n/a or not
 identified, indicated as "-". * Superorder: The superorder of
 the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as "-". *
 Order: The order of the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as
 "-". * Suborder: The suborder of the taxa. If n/a or not
 identified, indicated as "-". * Infraorder: The infraorder of
 the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as "-". *
 Superfamily: The superfamily of the taxa. If n/a or not identified,
 indicated as "-". * Family: The family of the taxa. If n/a or
 not identified, indicated as "-". * Subfamily: The subfamily of
 the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as "-". *
 Tribe: The tribe of the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as
 "-". * Genus: The genus of the taxa. If n/a or not identified,
 indicated as "-". * Subgenus: The subgenus of the taxa. If n/a
 or not identified, indicated as "-". * Species: The species of
 the taxa. If n/a or not identified, indicated as "-". *
 Abbreviation: Taxonomic abbreviations corresponding to abbreviations in
 MDMCsperaw.csv #### File: MDMCspa.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables *
 : Site names * Lat: Latitude (decimal degrees) * Long: Longitude (decimal
 degrees)