The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Regional-scale patterns of mobile invertebrate assemblage structure on artificial habitats off Western Australia

Regional-scale patterns of mobile invertebrate assemblage structure on artificial habitats off Western Australia
Regional-scale patterns of mobile invertebrate assemblage structure on artificial habitats off Western Australia
Despite the many functions that mobile invertebrates serve in marine ecosystems, these assemblages remain relatively understudied. This study utilized artificial settling surfaces to determine how mobile invertebrate assemblages vary along a latitudinal gradient encompassing ~ 1100 km of the Western Australian (WA) coast. We examined the structure of both ‘whole assemblages’ at a coarse taxonomic level and a subset of the assemblage (crabs) at the species level, across six locations and over two sampling periods. Assemblage structure differed significantly between locations and a moderately strong correlation with latitude was detected. More evident, was distinct partitioning between assemblages at ‘warm-water’ locations (23–24.5°S) and ‘temperate’ locations (28–33°S). This division in assemblage structure was consistent between sampling periods and taxonomic resolutions and corresponds to shifts in dominant biogenic habitat along the coast (coral vs. macrophyte). The abundances of some of the dominant crab species suggested discrete, unimodal distribution relationships with latitude/temperature, a pattern observed previously for macroalgae and fish in WA. The regional-scale patterns of mobile invertebrate assemblage structure presented here will contribute to forming a benchmark against which to detect future ecological change.
0022-0981
43-53
Foster, Shelley
bd7796bf-fb3c-40ea-9c30-c679d1cf26b8
Smale, Dan A.
19528a3a-f66c-474d-ae13-c6405b8014ab
How, Jason
854908a1-1056-47a5-b7f2-89e0f16fce2b
de Lestang, Simon
da25db82-5805-44f2-8375-b9dddd44d60c
Brearley, Anne
dd0f5288-725b-48fd-b4ac-203ea799b09f
Kendrick, Gary A.
0353334b-ba64-42b0-8162-4d8ad75279b6
Foster, Shelley
bd7796bf-fb3c-40ea-9c30-c679d1cf26b8
Smale, Dan A.
19528a3a-f66c-474d-ae13-c6405b8014ab
How, Jason
854908a1-1056-47a5-b7f2-89e0f16fce2b
de Lestang, Simon
da25db82-5805-44f2-8375-b9dddd44d60c
Brearley, Anne
dd0f5288-725b-48fd-b4ac-203ea799b09f
Kendrick, Gary A.
0353334b-ba64-42b0-8162-4d8ad75279b6

Foster, Shelley, Smale, Dan A., How, Jason, de Lestang, Simon, Brearley, Anne and Kendrick, Gary A. (2014) Regional-scale patterns of mobile invertebrate assemblage structure on artificial habitats off Western Australia. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 453, 43-53. (doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2013.12.015).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Despite the many functions that mobile invertebrates serve in marine ecosystems, these assemblages remain relatively understudied. This study utilized artificial settling surfaces to determine how mobile invertebrate assemblages vary along a latitudinal gradient encompassing ~ 1100 km of the Western Australian (WA) coast. We examined the structure of both ‘whole assemblages’ at a coarse taxonomic level and a subset of the assemblage (crabs) at the species level, across six locations and over two sampling periods. Assemblage structure differed significantly between locations and a moderately strong correlation with latitude was detected. More evident, was distinct partitioning between assemblages at ‘warm-water’ locations (23–24.5°S) and ‘temperate’ locations (28–33°S). This division in assemblage structure was consistent between sampling periods and taxonomic resolutions and corresponds to shifts in dominant biogenic habitat along the coast (coral vs. macrophyte). The abundances of some of the dominant crab species suggested discrete, unimodal distribution relationships with latitude/temperature, a pattern observed previously for macroalgae and fish in WA. The regional-scale patterns of mobile invertebrate assemblage structure presented here will contribute to forming a benchmark against which to detect future ecological change.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: April 2014
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 362300
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/362300
ISSN: 0022-0981
PURE UUID: b0d276fa-5587-428e-826e-75795b919400

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Feb 2014 14:17
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 16:02

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Shelley Foster
Author: Dan A. Smale
Author: Jason How
Author: Simon de Lestang
Author: Anne Brearley
Author: Gary A. Kendrick

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×