Rarity and beta diversity assessment as tools for guiding conservation strategies in marine tropical subtidal communities
Carlos-Júnior, L.A.; Spencer, M.; Neves, D.M.; Moulton, T.P.; de Oliveira Pires, D.; e Castro, C.B.; Ventura, C.R.R.; Ferreira, C.E.L.; Serejo, C.S.; Oigman-Pszczol, S.; Casares, F.A.; Mantelatto, M.C.; Creed, J.C. (2019). Rarity and beta diversity assessment as tools for guiding conservation strategies in marine tropical subtidal communities. Diversity Distrib. 25(5): 743-757. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12896
In: Diversity and Distributions. Blackwell: Oxford. ISSN 1366-9516; e-ISSN 1472-4642, more
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| Keywords |
Aquatic communities > Benthos
Aquatic sciences > Marine sciences > Ecology > Marine ecology
Composition > Community composition
Taxa > Species > Rare species
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| Author keywords |
alpha beta gamma diversity; Marine community; metacommunities; tropical rocky reefs |
| Authors | | Top |
- Carlos-Júnior, L.A.
- Spencer, M.
- Neves, D.M.
- Moulton, T.P.
- de Oliveira Pires, D.
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- e Castro, C.B.
- Ventura, C.R.R.
- Ferreira, C.E.L.
- Serejo, C.S.
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- Oigman-Pszczol, S.
- Casares, F.A.
- Mantelatto, M.C.
- Creed, J.C.
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| Abstract |
Aim: Our aim was to uncover patterns of distribution of marine subtidal rocky reef communities across six taxonomic groups and decompose the relative roles of species loss and turnover in total community variation. Additionally, we propose an easilycalculated index that can be used to highlight areas with unique species composition for conservation planning. We estimated the strengths of associations between environmental factors and species richness and rarity.Location: Ilha Grande Bay, Brazil, covering about 150,000 ha harbouring differentmarine habitats.Methods: We used the Marine Rapid Assessment Protocol at 42 sites to gather informationon environmental variables and species in six subtidal marine groups. We determined “singular” sites as the regions harbouring higher numbers of rare species. Then, we estimated the roles of species loss and turnover on the observed total variationamong sites. We used Generalized Linear Model to partition the relative importance of the selected environmental factors in driving variation in species richness and singularity.Results: The singularity index and richness showed that the bay could be divided into three subregions for subtidal communities. Richness and rarity were structured at different spatial scales and associated with environmental variables related to water productivity and nutrients but varied among taxonomic groups. Community variation over space was largely associated with turnover of species.Main conclusions: Higher singularity and richness on the western side of the bay and around the main island suggested that these regions should be conservation priorities, but high species turnover across the whole bay indicated that portions of the central channel should be included in conservation strategies. This draws attentionto the importance of community variation rather than just species numbers in conservation and management planning. The high species turnover indicated that these rocky reefs have high beta diversity when compared to other studied biological systems. |
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