Environmental and spatial–temporal processes are proposed as important mechanisms regulating permanent pond communities, but comprehensive research of these factors at fine scales (i.e. patches or microhabitats) is still lacking. Here, we investigated environmental, spatial, and temporal variables influencing community structure and diversity (α, β, γ) in pond microhabitats over one annual cycle (i.e. four seasons). Standardized surveys were conducted monthly for one year, and a suite of biotic and abiotic variables were recorded at each microhabitat to test which assembly processes are important in structuring pond communities. As expected, spatial and environmental variables influenced local species organization at both the annual and seasonal scale. The high β diversity among pond microhabitats was mainly attributed to species turnover from one microhabitat to another rather than richness differences. Habitat heterogeneity largely explained the variation on α and β diversity among pond microhabitats. Overall, our results suggest that multiple ecological processes affect community assembly dynamics in permanent ponds. First, the temporal variation on the distribution of species across pond microhabitats that was associated with environmental fluctuations (mainly temperature, dissolved oxygen, substrate composition, and emergent vegetation) inferred that species sorting (i.e. niche-based processes) is an important driver of the observed community patterns, while the spatiotemporal turnover in species composition and density can be explained by colonization and dispersal events occurring within microhabitats. Our study emphasizes the need to include time, space and environmental variables in studies assessing communities in permanent pond systems, as they appear to be related to distinct processes regulating communities at fine scales.

环境和时空过程被认为是调节永久性池塘群落的重要机制，但仍缺乏对这些因素在精细尺度（即斑块或微生境）上的综合研究。在这里，我们调查了影响群落结构和多样性的环境、空间和时间变量（α、β、γ) 在一年周期（即四个季节）的池塘微生境中。一年内每月进行一次标准化调查，并在每个微生境记录一组生物和非生物变量，以测试哪些组装过程对构建池塘群落很重要。正如预期的那样，空间和环境变量在年度和季节性尺度上影响了当地的物种组织。池塘微生境之间的高β多样性主要归因于从一个微生境到另一个微生境的物种周转，而不是丰富度差异。栖息地异质性在很大程度上解释了α和β的变化池塘微生境的多样性。总体而言，我们的结果表明，多种生态过程会影响永久性池塘中的群落组装动态。首先，与环境波动（主要是温度、溶解氧、基质成分和挺水植被）相关的池塘微生境中物种分布的时间变化推断物种分类（即基于生态位的过程）是观察到的群落模式，而物种组成和密度的时空更替可以通过微生境中发生的殖民化和扩散事件来解释。我们的研究强调需要在评估永久性池塘系统中的社区的研究中包括时间、空间和环境变量，