While separated by large expanses of dry terrain unsuitable for aquatic biota, aridland waters possess high biodiversity. How aquatic micrometazoans disperse to, and colonize, these isolated ephemeral habitats are not well understood. We used a multi‐faceted approach including wind tunnel and rehydration experiments, and next‐generation sequencing to assess potential movement of diapausing propagules of aquatic invertebrates by anemochory across regional scales (10²–10⁵ km). Wind tunnel experiments using dry playa sediments with added micrometazoan propagules demonstrated that after entrainment by saltation and downwind transport, propagules could be subsequently rehydrated and were viable. Further, rehydration of fallen natural dust yielded micrometazoans, including rotifers, gastrotrichs, microcrustaceans, and nematodes. Using conserved DNA primers, we identified > 3300 eukaryotic Operational Taxonomic Units (excluding fungi) in the dust including some taxa found in rehydration experiments. Thus, we provide strong evidence that anemochory can disperse micrometazoans among isolated, ephemeral ecosystems in North American deserts and likely elsewhere.

中文翻译：

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干旱地区淡水微后生动物区域风运输的证据。

虽然旱地水域被大片不适合水生生物群的干燥地形所隔开，但其生物多样性却很高。水生微型后生动物如何分散并定居在这些孤立的短暂栖息地尚不清楚。我们采用了多方面的方法，包括风洞和补液实验以及下一代测序，以评估水生无脊椎动物滞育繁殖体在区域尺度（10 2 –10 5 公里）内通过风传播^的潜在^运动。使用干燥的普拉亚沉积物和添加的微型后生动物繁殖体进行的风洞实验表明，在通过跃移和顺风运输夹带后，繁殖体随后可以再水合并且具有活力。此外，掉落的自然尘埃的再水化产生了微型后生动物，包括轮虫、胃毛动物、微型甲壳动物和线虫。使用保守的 DNA 引物，我们在灰尘中鉴定了超过 3300 个真核操作分类单位（不包括真菌），包括在补液实验中发现的一些分类群。因此，我们提供了强有力的证据，证明风藻可以在北美沙漠和其他地方的孤立的、短暂的生态系统中分散微型后生动物。