Morphological Composition Influences Redundancy, Complementarity and Ecological Relevance of Habitat Complexity Metrics in Simulated Coral Communities.

ABSTRACT: Earth's most complex and biodiverse ecosystems are characterised by high habitat complexity. On coral reefs, habitat complexity is influenced by the diverse morphology and composition of hard corals, shaping reef structure and shelter provision for many species. Various metrics are used to quantify reef complexity, yet, it remains unclear how well these metrics capture ecological functions such as shelter provision. We used a published dataset of 13 distinct coral community types generated using a 3D functional-structural model to investigate the redundancy, complementarity and ecological relevance of 11 habitat complexity metrics (seven ecologically meaningful shelter metrics and four more general structural metrics). We were especially interested in the extent to which structural metrics

SUBMITTER: Oh D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12395184 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature