engleski

Interrelation between macrofauna and various types of benthic habitats in the Croatian Adriatic

Seagrass is hypothesized to harbor a more diverse and abundant fauna as compared to other habitats. This was tested using visual censuses of macrofauna over 38 km of SCUBA transects in Novigrad Sea, Croatia, in four seasons and day and night, using georeferenced videography to quantify habitat and pinpoint observations. Results do not conform to the seagrass superiority hypothesis. Fauna was most abundant over sediments, least abundant in dense seagrass, and most diverse over rock. The kind of 3D structure was as important as presence/absence of structure in defining faunal assemblages, which were unique for each habitat. Sediment was most preferred and seagrass most avoided by taxa. Ambush predators strongly preferred seagrass, while potential prey peaked in abundance over sediments. In situ and tank experiments corroborated this predator/prey segregation: risk and intensity of predation was the highest in seagrass, lowering its value to prey as compared to neighboring habitats, which harbor a more diverse and abundant fauna.

marine macrofauna; benthic habitats; visual census dive transects; Adriatic; ambush predation mode; predation experiments; seagrass superiority

nije evidentirano