To conclude, our study identified several arthropod groups that appear to benefit from the presence of nearby dry refuges, with habitat generalists particularly showing a positive response to these refuge structures. Interestingly, the observed neighbourhood effects were relatively small, covering only about 10 m2. This finding is crucial for future research on arthropod community structures in wetlands, as it narrows the spatial scale over which such structures need to be estimated, at least when studying beetles and spiders. A surprising result was that heterogeneity itself did not appear to influence arthropod distributions, suggesting that movements within the immediate neighborhood is common. Compared to drier habitats, such as meadows, there is quite limited information on the habitat variables that shape arthropod communities in wetlands. Whereas our study highlights the importance of dry refuges during flooding periods, the availability and role of such structures vary across wetland types. Future research should focus not only on species traits that may explain responses to flooding but also on wetland characteristics and the spatial and temporal variability of hydrological processes driving floods. For instance, the small-scale variability in wetland wetness-dryness reflecting absence or presence of wetland refuges may not necessarily be well represented in hydrological process models, nor be detectable in openly available observation datasets including remote sensing products, and may therefore need increased attention. This can be particularly important for guiding contemporary efforts to restore wetlands as a mean to promote biodiversity, and mitigate potential adverse effect on biodiversity of climate change and human activities.