Additive partitioning of coral reef fish diversity across hierarchical spatial scales throughout the Caribbean.

ABSTRACT: There is an increasing need to examine regional patterns of diversity in coral-reef systems since their biodiversity is declining globally. In this sense, additive partitioning might be useful since it quantifies the contribution of alpha and beta to total diversity across different scales. We applied this approach using an unbalanced design across four hierarchical scales (80 sites, 22 subregions, six ecoregions, and the Caribbean basin). Reef-fish species were compiled from the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) database and distributions were confirmed with published data. Permutation tests were used to compare observed values to those expected by chance. The primary objective was to identify patterns of reef-fish diversity across multiple spatial scales under different scen

SUBMITTER: Francisco-Ramos V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3808286 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature