Effects of space and environment on phytoplankton distribution in subtropical reservoirs depend on functional features of the species

Environmental factors and dispersal can influence the structure of biological communities. Their effects can depend on the functional features of the species in the community. Since species belonging to the same trophic level, such as phytoplankton, may show functional differences, we investigated whether the effects of environment and dispersal differ among phytoplankton species from different functional groups. We analyzed data from a rainy and a dry period in 30 reservoirs in a subtropical region. In both periods, the environment as well as high and limited dispersal influenced the metacommunity structure. The functional groups had a low correspondence in their response to both dispersal and environment. Our results showed that the influence of the processes underlying the structure of the metacommunities, such as species sorting (environment influence), mass effect (high dispersal), and neutral dynamics (limited dispersal), depended on the functional characteristics of the organisms and could vary even among species of the same trophic level. These findings suggested that species at the same trophic level could not be considered ecological equivalents. This paper includes a Portuguese and Spanish version of the abstract in the online resources. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00027-021-00837-0.