Dominance determines fish community biomass in a temperate seagrass ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity and ecosystem function are often correlated, but there are multiple hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Ecosystem functions such as primary or secondary production may be maximized by species richness, evenness in species abundances, or the presence or dominance of species with certain traits. Here, we combine surveys of natural fish communities (conducted in July and August 2016) with morphological trait data to examine relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function (quantified as fish community biomass) across 14 subtidal eelgrass meadows in the Northeast Pacific (54°N, 130°W). We employ both taxonomic and functional trait measures of diversity to investigate whether ecosystem function is best predicted by species diversity (complementari

SUBMITTER: Eger AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8328455 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature