Metabarcoding identifies macroalgal composition as a driver of benthic invertebrate assemblages in restored habitats.

ABSTRACT: Large brown macroalgal forests support diverse communities of associated invertebrates. However, human activities have led to their degradation, replacing the original macroalgal assemblages with less-complex habitats and altering the associated invertebrate communities. To counteract this, restoration actions are currently being performed aiming at their recovery. Here, we used metabarcoding of the COI gene to describe the invertebrate community of a 10-year restored macroalgal forest dominated by Gongolaria barbata. This invertebrate assemblage was compared with an assemblage adjacent to the restoration site where G. barbata is absent, and two healthy assemblages also dominated by G. barbata, used as references. Results showed that arthropods, molluscs, and annelids were the most abundan

SUBMITTER: Galobart C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11928537 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature