Isometric scaling of faunal patchiness: Seagrass macrobenthic abundance across small spatial scales
In: Marine Environmental Research. Applied Science Publishers: Barking. ISSN 0141-1136; e-ISSN 1879-0291, more
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| Keyword |
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| Author keywords |
Benthos; Hotspot analysis; Isometric scaling; Moreton bay; Patchiness; Seagrass; Scale-invariance; Spatial autocorrelation |
| Authors | | Top |
- Barnes, R.S.K.
- Hamylton, S.M.
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| Abstract |
Following earlier studies across 2115 → 33 m2 scales (Barnes and Laurie, 2018), patchiness of macrobenthic abundance in intertidal Queensland seagrass was assessed by dispersion indices, spatial autocorrelation and hotspot analysis across a hierarchically-nested series of smaller scales (5.75 → 0.09 m2). Overall patterns of distribution and abundance over larger extents and with greater lag were mirrored across these smaller ones. Assemblage abundance per station varied by a factor of >10, but all three approaches showed effective constancy of total assemblage patchiness across all sub-2115 m2 scales (across-scales-mean Lloyd's IP of 1.06 and global Moran's I of 0.13). Equivalent constancy was also shown by most numerically-dominant species (scaling exponent β = 0.93–1.15). Decreasing patchiness of some species with decreasing scale, however, resulted in two no longer being patchily dispersed across small scales. Significant hotspots of abundance occurred at a constant proportion of stations across scales, against a background of randomly scattered peak-abundance points. |
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