Nestedness patterns including both artificial and natural habitat may represent evidence of such habitats’ importance in community assembly and conservation of animals inhabiting those sites. Odonata often colonize drinking troughs (artificial water reservoirs) and thus they are good study models as umbrella species. We investigated if a network of artificial (troughs) and natural (pools) aquatic habitats could create a nested subset pattern for Odonata assemblages. We surveyed all the troughs present in the Castelporziano Estate (Italy, Lazio). Odonata larvae have been collected and identified. Data of a previous paper on 18 natural pools and ponds, and our samplings of 16 troughs were organized into a presence-absence matrix. The Odonata assemblage within natural and artificial habitats is significantly nested with both NODF and T metrics. Odonata species found in the troughs represented 40% of the total species pool. Some troughs interspersed with the natural pools in the nested order: eight troughs were richer in species than some natural pools, despite the big difference in surface area. Pristine water bodies and their area may not represent major constraints for species to oviposit and for larvae to grow. Drinking troughs can be highly relevant for representing refuges in the absence or decline of natural ponds and pools: lacking in top-predators (fishes), they are small “island” habitats that support the generations of Odonata (or other aquatic macroinvertebrates) during dry periods of natural water bodies. The use and focused management of such habitats can be an effective practice for freshwater ecosystems management and Odonata conservation.

中文翻译：

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人工和自然水生栖息地中蜻蜓组合的嵌套模式揭示了饮水槽对水生昆虫保护的潜在作用

包括人工和自然栖息地的嵌套模式可能代表这些栖息地在社区集会和栖息在这些地点的动物保护中的重要性的证据。蜻蜓经常栖息在饮水槽（人工水库）中，因此它们是作为伞形物种的良好研究模型。我们调查了人工（槽）和自然（池）水生栖息地网络是否可以为蜻蜓组合创建嵌套的子集模式。我们调查了 Castelporziano 庄园（意大利、拉齐奥）中的所有低谷。已收集并鉴定了蜻蜓幼虫。之前一篇关于 18 个天然水池和池塘的论文的数据，以及我们对 16 个槽的采样被组织成一个存在-不存在矩阵。自然和人工栖息地中的 Odonata 组合与 NODF 和 T 指标显着嵌套。在槽中发现的蜻蜓物种占总物种库的 40%。一些槽以嵌套的顺序穿插在天然池中：尽管表面积差异很大，但8个槽的物种比一些天然池更丰富。原始水体及其面积可能不是物种产卵和幼虫生长的主要限制因素。在天然池塘和水池缺失或衰退的情况下，饮水槽可能与代表避难所高度相关：缺乏顶级捕食者（鱼类），它们是小“岛”栖息地，在干旱期间支持蜻蜓目（或其他水生大型无脊椎动物）的世代自然水体的时期。此类栖息地的使用和集中管理可以成为淡水生态系统管理和蜻蜓目保护的有效实践。