Document of bibliographic reference 354710

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Biodiversity differentials between seagrass and adjacent bare sediment change along an estuarine gradient

Abstract

Differentials between the invertebrate biodiversity of seagrass (S) and of adjacent bare sediment (B) were investigated at 8 localities spaced along the axial gradient of an estuarine system, that at Knysna in South Africa; various assemblage metrics being compared at paired S/B stations. Little or no S:B differentials were found near the mouth, but significant increase in those between both levels of overall assemblage abundance and of taxon richness did occur upstream (in abundance from <1 near the mouth to >2 towards the head, and in taxon richness from 1 to 2). The habitat supporting greater abundance therefore switched along the gradient. The differential between numbers of co-dominant species in the assemblages also increased upstream, whereas that between levels of taxonomic distinctness decreased. Functional diversity, evenness and patchiness differentials, however, showed no significant upstream change; neither did values of Bray-Curtis similarity between the two habitat types. Most affected were the epibenthic- and subsurface-feeding assemblage components. As predicted, macrobenthic assemblages of seagrass and bare sediment reacted differently to the gradient, and seagrass enhanced macrobenthic biodiversity much more upstream. However, location along the estuarine gradient appeared an equally important influence on assemblage composition to presence or absence of seagrass. The evident context-dependent nature of such differentials urges considerable caution in the extrapolation of ecological indicators derived from local areas to wider regions.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000822957900005

Bibliographic citation

Barnes, R.S.K. (2022). Biodiversity differentials between seagrass and adjacent bare sediment change along an estuarine gradient. Est., Coast. and Shelf Sci. 274: 107951. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107951

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true