Zooplankton metacommunity knowledge over 20 years: a systematic review

• Published in: Journal of plankton research 2024-12, Vol.46 (6), p.644-653
• Main Authors: Deosti, Sabrina, Bonecker, Claudia Costa, Mantovano, Tatiane, de Fátima Bonfim, Francieli, Lansac-Tôha, Fábio Amodêo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0142-7873; 1464-3774
• DOI: 10.1093/plankt/fbae064

The metacommunity theory aims to understand the species dynamics at different scales by considering the influence of local and regional processes. We conducted a systematic review of zooplankton metacommunity studies in global aquatic ecosystems (freshwater, marine and estuarine) looking for the distribution, time scale, type of system, type of environment, zooplankton group tested, ecological approach and metacommunity approach analyzed in the studies. We also present an overview of the observed patterns of the zooplankton metacommunity in different environmental conditions. We searched for scientific studies published until December 2022 on Scopus and Web of Science using the words: “zooplankton” and “metacomunnit*.” Our results show that studies on the zooplankton metacommunity have become recurrent over time (167 studies), especially for pond systems and for the groups of rotifers, cladocerans and copepods; however, several gaps remain related to studies distribution and the low number of studies in streams, reservoirs, with functional and phylogenetic diversity, and the elements of metacommunity structure. Our data improve the knowledge of the zooplankton metacommunity over time, help to identify the gaps that need to be explored in future studies and bring a general overview of the observed patterns for the zooplankton metacommunity.