Metacommunity ecology addresses the situation where sets of local communities are
connected by the dispersal of a number of potentially interacting species. Aquatic systems …

The present review with focus on the last decade (2000–2010) aims to (i) collecting the
major hypotheses explaining freshwater biodiversity patterns,(ii) identifying the main …

Abstract The Neotropical Atlantic Forest is one of the world's top biodiversity hotspot.
Originally, the forest extended over 1.5 million km 2 along the South American Atlantic coast …

Ecologists have long investigated why communities are composed of a few common species
and many rare species. Most studies relate rarity to either niche differentiation among …

Ecological drift can override the effects of deterministic niche selection on small populations
and drive the assembly of some ecological communities. We tested this hypothesis with a …

Freshwater assessment studies have been used changes on individuals and populations of
Chironomidae assemblages as bioindicators to assay aquatic ecosystems changes and …

The use of spatial variables is a common procedure in ecological studies. The technique is
based on the definition of a connectivity/distance matrix that conceptually defines the …

Aim The drivers of phylogenetic beta diversity include both local processes (eg
environmental filtering) and regional processes (eg dispersal limitation). The role of …

Many recent studies have quantified the relative importance of environmental variables and
dispersal limitations in sha** the structure of stream communities. However, the relative …

Habitat modification can homogenize biological communities. Beta diversity analyses
provide key information for understanding biotic homogenization, especially given recent …