Substrate Heterogeneity as a Trigger for Species Diversity in Marine Benthic Assemblages.

ABSTRACT: Many studies show that habitat complexity or habitat diversity plays a major role in biodiversity throughout different spatial scales: as structural heterogeneity increases, so does the number of available (micro-) habitats for the potential species inventory. The capability of housing species (even rare species) increases rapidly with increasing habitat heterogeneity. However, habitat complexity is not easy to measure in marine sublittoral sediments. In our study, we came up with a proposal to estimate sublittoral benthic habitat complexity using standard underwater video techniques. This tool was subsequently used to investigate the effect of habitat complexity on species richness in comparison to other environmental parameters in a marine protected area situated in the Fehmarn Belt, a n

SUBMITTER: Romoth K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10295182 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature