1. Freshwater habitats are among the most threatened and least studied habitats in arid regions of Iran. Discovering factors responsible for the spatial variation of biodiversity are one of the main considerations in conservation biology. As a first step towards developing conservation strategies, we aimed to investigate the beta diversity and response of Odonata assemblages to climate and landscape variables in arid and semi‐arid regions of Iran.
2. A total of 120 water bodies were surveyed. The beta diversity distance matrices were calculated for Odonata, Anisoptera, and Zygoptera, using the Jaccard dissimilarity coefficient. Also, the replacement and richness difference components of Odonata beta diversity were computed. Each of the five dissimilarity matrices was modelled by generalised dissimilarity modelling (GDM).
3. We recorded 58 species of Odonata that represent 58% of the Odonata species in Iran. The average total beta diversity was high (0.873). GDMs results showed that the most influential variables varied between the replacement and richness difference components of Odonata beta diversity as well as between the two Odonata suborders. Anisoptera were most strongly affected by the temperature annual range, while the most important variable for Zygoptera was the average wind speed in April.
4. Our results suggest that the studies of the drivers of biodiversity patterns benefit from beta diversity partitioning also from comparing species groups with different ecological preferences. The high biodiversity of the studied water bodies as well as the anthropogenic and climate threats that they are faced with, make these ecosystems a conservation priority.

中文翻译：

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伊朗中部高原干旱和半干旱地区Odonata beta多样性的生态驱动力

1. 淡水生境是伊朗干旱地区受威胁最大，研究最少的生境之一。发现造成生物多样性空间变化的因素是保护生物学的主要考虑因素之一。作为制定保护战略的第一步，我们旨在调查伊朗干旱和半干旱地区的Odonata组合的β多样性和对气候和景观变量的响应。
2. 总共对120个水体进行了调查。使用Jaccard相异系数，计算了Odonata，Anisoptera和Zygoptera的β分集距离矩阵。此外，计算了Odonata beta多样性的替代和丰富度差异组成部分。五个相异性矩阵中的每一个都通过广义相异性建模（GDM）进行建模。
3. 我们记录了58种Odonata物种，占伊朗Odonata物种的58％。平均总Beta多样性很高（0.873）。GDMs结果表明，影响最大的变量在Odonata beta多样性的替代和丰富度差异组件之间以及两个Odonata子顺序之间有所不同。翅翅目受到温度年范围的影响最大，而翅翅目最重要的变量是四月份的平均风速。
4. 我们的研究结果表明，对生物多样性模式驱动因素的研究还受益于β多样性划分，也可以通过比较具有不同生态偏好的物种群体来受益。被研究水体的高生物多样性以及它们面临的人为和气候威胁，使这些生态系统成为保护的重点。