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Effects of habitat heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales on fish community assembly

  • Community ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Habitat variability at multiple spatial scales may affect community structure within a given habitat patch, even within seemingly homogenous landscapes. In this context, we tested the importance of habitat variables at two spatial scales (patch and landscape) in driving fish community assembly using experimental artificial reefs constructed across a gradient of seagrass cover in a coastal bay of The Bahamas. We found that species richness and benthic fish abundance increased over time, but eventually reached an asymptote. The correlation between habitat variables and community structure strengthened over time, suggesting deterministic processes were detectable in community assembly. Abundance of benthic fishes, as well as overall community structure, were predicted by both patch- and landscape-scale variables, with the cover of seagrass at the landscape-scale emerging as the most important explanatory variable. Results of this study indicate that landscape features can drive differences in community assembly even within a general habitat type (i.e., within seagrass beds). A primary implication of this finding is that human activities driving changes in seagrass cover may cause significant shifts in faunal community structure well before complete losses of seagrass habitat.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by National Science Foundation OCE #0746164, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and a Florida International University Presidential Fellowship. We thank Friends of the Environment, D. Haines and F. DeRosa on Abaco for their logistical support and the Department of Marine Resources of The Bahamas for research permits. Field assistance and help with data management was provided by A. Anton, C. Acevedo, D. Chacin, G. Mineau, L. Pierre, M. Seese, M. Simpson and E. Stoner. Also, we thank J. Trexler for advice on data analysis, M. Donnelly, members of the Layman Lab, J. Fodrie and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Sciences Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 3000 N.E. 151st St., North Miami, FL, USA

    Lauren A. Yeager & Craig A. Layman

  2. Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Jacob E. Allgeier

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  1. Lauren A. Yeager
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  2. Craig A. Layman
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Correspondence to Lauren A. Yeager.

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Communicated by Jeff Shima.

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Yeager, L.A., Layman, C.A. & Allgeier, J.E. Effects of habitat heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales on fish community assembly. Oecologia 167, 157–168 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1959-3

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