Environmental filtering and biotic interactions act on different facets of the diversity of benthic assemblages associated with eelgrass.

ABSTRACT: Eelgrass supports diverse benthic communities that ensure a variety of ecosystem functions. To better understand the ecological processes that shape community composition in eelgrass at local and regional scales, taxonomic and functional α- and β-diversity were quantified for communities inhabiting five meadows in France. The extent to which environmental factors affected local and regional benthic communities was quantified by considering their direct and indirect effects (through morphological traits of eelgrass) using piecewise structural equation modeling (pSEM). Communities supported by eelgrass had higher species abundances, as well as taxonomic and functional diversity compared to nearby bare sediments. No significant differences were found between communities from the center relati

SUBMITTER: Muller A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10682608 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature