AbstractAimTo assess the relative importance of wind intensity and direction in explaining wetland invertebrate metacommunity organization.LocationSeventy‐eight wetland ponds in Patagonia (Argentina) covering a study area of 3.5 × 105 km2.Time periodPonds were sampled once between 2006 and 2014.Major taxa studiedOne hundred and fifty‐eight taxa of wetland aquatic invertebrates.MethodsWe generated two beta diversity matrices (based on flying and non‐flying invertebrates) and six predictor matrices, including three environmental distance matrices, a topographic distance between ponds, and two wind pairwise matrices differing in wind speed. Using Moran spectral randomization of Mantel (MSR‐Mantel) tests (which account for spatial autocorrelation), we assessed the relationship between the response and the predictor matrices. We used a network‐constrained version of the nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill (NODF), to assess if wind anisotropy (i.e., direction‐dependent) affected community nestedness among ponds.ResultsFlying dispersers’ dissimilarity was significantly explained by environmental variables, whereas non‐flying invertebrates’ dissimilarity was not significantly explained by any of the distances tested. When wind direction was ignored, wind speed had a negligible effect on both types of communities, whereas when it was considered a consistent nested pattern emerged, with the eastern ponds (downwind) communities being subsets of those from the western ponds (upwind).Main conclusionsWe found that the invertebrate communities were mainly assembled by a combination of environmental factors and wind directionality, although this depended on the dispersal ability of the organisms.