Environmental optima for an ecosystem engineer: a multidisciplinary trait-based approach.

ABSTRACT: A complex interplay of biotic and abiotic factors underpins the distribution of species and operates across different levels of biological organization and life history stages. Understanding ecosystem engineer reproductive traits is critical for comprehending and managing the biodiversity-rich habitats they create. Little is known about how the reproduction of the reef-forming worm, Sabellaria alveolata, varies across environmental gradients. By integrating broad-scale environmental data with in-situ physiological data in the form of biochemical traits, we identified and ranked the drivers of intraspecific reproductive trait variability (ITV). ITV was highest in locations with variable environmental conditions, subjected to fluctuating temperature and hydrodynamic conditions. Our trait sel

SUBMITTER: Curd A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8626476 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature