Deterministic and Stochastic Processes Regulate Co-Occurrence Network Structure and Shape Macroinvertebrate Diversity in Karst Environment

Abstract

Biodiversity and ecosystems around the world are consistently threatened by different factors. How deterministic processes and stochastic processes shape biodiversity have become one of the central questions in ecological studies today. The karst region of Southwest China's Yunnan Province is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots and features unique surface and underground riverine landscapes. We studied macroinvertebrate communities in a Cave-Reservoir-and-Stream (CRS) ecotone to assess drivers of macroinvertebrate diversity in the region. Our results demonstrated that in co-occurrence network, keystone taxa such as Trigomphus (betweenness = 0.303, degree = 0.298) contributed to shape th..