Community assembly of coral reef fishes along the Melanesian biodiversity gradient.

ABSTRACT: The Indo-Pacific is home to Earth's most biodiverse coral reefs. Diversity on these reefs decreases from the Coral Triangle east through the islands of Melanesia. Despite this pattern having been identified during the early 20th century, our knowledge about the interaction between pattern and process remains incomplete. To evaluate the structure of coral reef fish communities across Melanesia, we obtained distributional records for 396 reef fish species in five taxa across seven countries. We used hierarchical clustering, nestedness, and multiple linear regression analyses to evaluate the community structure. We also compiled data on life history traits (pelagic larval duration, body size and schooling behavior) to help elucidate the ecological mechanisms behind community structure. Specie

SUBMITTER: Drew JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5656311 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature