Under siege: Isolated tributaries are threatened by regionally impaired metacommunities

Pristine streams are often targeted as conservation priorities because of their ability to preserve regional biodiversity. However, isolation within heavily degraded regions likely alters important metapopulation and metacommunity processes (e.g., rescue and mass effects), affecting the ability of in-tact communities to boost regional conditions. To test this hypothesis, we sampled invertebrate communities and physicochemical conditions from 168 streams within the mountaintop removal-valley fill mining region of West Virginia. We used redundancy analysis to first test for significant effects of local (observed physicochemical conditions) and neighborhood (streams within a 5 km buffer) degradation on assemblage structure across all taxa and stress tolerance (low, moderate, high) and dispersal (low, high) categories. We then used generalized linear and hurdle models to characterize changes in community metrics and individual taxa, respectively. Local condition consistently explained the majority of variation (partial R² up to 5 × those of neighborhood condition) in community structure and was the only factor affecting sensitive taxa. Neighborhood condition explained significant variation in moderately tolerant taxa with low dispersal capacity and highly tolerant taxa, regardless of dispersal. Decreased occurrence (Baetis) and abundance (Maccaffertium) of key taxa and corresponding metrics (%E, %EPT) suggest decreased dispersal and associated mass and rescue effects within degraded neighborhoods. Decreased neighborhood conditions also resulted in the proliferation of tolerant taxa (Chironomidae, Chimarra, Hemerodromia). Our results suggest communities within even the most pristine streams are at risk when isolated within heavily impacted regions. Consequently, protection of regional species' pools in heavily impacted regions will require more than simply conserving un-impacted streams. - Graphical abstract: In heavily degraded regions, even the most pristine headwater streams are at risk due to the simultaneous decrease in mass and rescue effects of key low-dispersing taxa and proliferation of regionally dominant tolerant taxa. - Highlights: • Isolation affects the ability of pristine streams to preserve regional biodiversity. • Local condition explained the majority of variation in local communities. • Isolation results in decreased mass and rescue effects of key low dispersing taxa. • Increasing isolation also results in a regional proliferation of tolerant taxa. • Protection of regional species' pools will require more than headwater conservation.