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Macrofaunal responses to structural complexity are mediated by environmental variability and surrounding habitats

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Abstract

Investigating the context that surrounds each habitat is crucial to understand local responses of assemblages of species to habitats. Here, I tested whether responses of benthic macroinvertebrates to the structural complexity of experimental habitats were mediated by the characteristics of their surrounding habitats (i.e. rockpools or emergent-rock surfaces). Each type of surrounding habitat provided particular biotic (e.g. algal growth) and abiotic (e.g. temperature, water movement) conditions that were expected to affect benthic assemblages. The results show that (1) composition of entire assemblages was affected by the matrix and type of habitat; (2) effects of the matrix on the number of species varied depending on the different types of habitats; (3) abundant species showed specific responses to type of habitat, independently of the matrix; and (4) relationships between numbers of species and two major environmental variables (i.e. micro-algal biomass and sediment) varied depending on the type of habitats and the surrounding matrix. Generally, these findings demonstrate that understanding the consequences of the spatial structure of these habitats is essential to advance our knowledge on patterns of abundance and distributions of functionally important species and ultimately the structure of intertidal assemblages.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funds from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) SFRH/BD/27506/2006 to MGM with additional support from the EICC (The university of Sydney). Tony Underwood, Ross Coleman, Dieter Hochuli, Mariana Mayer-Pinto, Ezequiel Marzinelli and Gustavo Martins provided helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Emily Callahan, Francesca van den Berg and Rodrigo Roman provided valuable assistance with field and laboratory work.

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  1. Miguel G. Matias

    Present address: Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, UMR 5554, CNRS, Université Montpellier 2, CC 065, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 05, France

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  1. Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, Marine Ecology Laboratories A11, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Miguel G. Matias

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Correspondence to Miguel G. Matias.

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Communicated by S. Connell.

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Matias, M.G. Macrofaunal responses to structural complexity are mediated by environmental variability and surrounding habitats. Mar Biol 160, 493–502 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2155-7

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