Diversity and cover of a sessile animal assemblage does not predict its associated mobile fauna |
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Authors: | Emma M Birdsey Emma L Johnston Alistair G B Poore |
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Institution: | (1) Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia |
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Abstract: | Habitat-forming organisms often determine the structural properties and food resources available to a wide diversity of associated
mobile species. Sessile invertebrate assemblages on marine hard substrates support an abundant fauna of mobile invertebrates
whose associations with traits of their host assemblages are poorly known. To assess how changes to habitat-forming species
are likely to affect their associated mobile fauna, the relationships between abundance, diversity and composition of mobile
invertebrates and the diversity, cover and composition of the sessile assemblages they use as habitat were quantified in Sydney
Harbour, Australia (33°50′S, 151°16′E). Similar compositions of sessile species were more likely to share a similar composition
of mobile species, but univariate measures of the habitat (percent cover, species and functional diversity, prevalence of
non-indigenous species) did not predict variation in associated mobile assemblages. These results demonstrate that in this
habitat it is difficult to predict the diversity of marine assemblages based on common surrogate measures of biodiversity. |
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