Journal
AUSTRAL ECOLOGY
Volume 30, Issue 2, Pages 210-218Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2005.01438.x
Keywords
ecotone; epifauna; habitat fragmentation; infauna; patch
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Fragmented habitats are a common occurrence in many marine systems, but remain poorly studied in comparison to their terrestrial counterparts. Here, I show that crustaceans inhabiting fragmented Zostera seagrass meadows show a dramatic response (change in abundance) to patch edges, with 11 out of 12 tests showing greatest abundance at the boundary between sand and seagrass. These patterns occurred on a scale of 0.25-1 m around the patch edge. Changes in seagrass biomass are unlikely to explain this pattern, as seagrass biomass increased smoothly at the patch edge, and did not decline towards patch interiors. In contrast to crustaceans, only a few polychaete taxa responded to the patch edge (9 of 25 tests), and bivalves generally did not show a response (1 of 5 tests). These latter groups are predominantly infaunal, and their lack of response may be partly due to the presence of substantial quantities of seagrass root and rhizome material in the sand habitat, which was defined visually based on the lack of above-ground seagrass components only.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available