Inferences of environmental and biotic effects on patterns of eukaryotic alpha and beta diversity for the spring systems of Ash Meadows, Nevada

Freshwater springs are important ecosystems. In the arid regions of North America, groundwater extraction has caused the desiccation of springs and the extinction of taxa. To better describe the biodiversity of freshwater springs in the hope of establishing a sensitive approach for monitoring the predicted change in spring systems, we used high-resolution genetic methods to estimate the alpha and beta diversity of 19 springs and two reservoirs...