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Plant Species Diversity And Composition: Experimental Effects On Marine Epifaunal Assemblages, Jd Parker, Je Duffy, R J. Orth

VIMS Articles

Plant diversity is believed to govern animal community structure, yet few studies have tested this relationship. We manipulated plant species diversity and composition (2 seagrasses and 3 seaweeds) and measured the abundance, diversity, and biomass of plant-associated macroinvertebrates in a temperate, estuarine seagrass community. Animal diversity was weakly but positively related to plant diversity (Simpson's 1 - lambda). Most indices of animal diversity, however, were more strongly related to total plant surface area than to plant diversity. Epifaunal abundance and biomass increased, whereas epifaunal diversity and evenness decreased with total plant surface area. Both food and habitat covary with plant …