Short-term differences in animal assemblages in patches formed by loss and growth of habitat

Macreadie, PI; Connolly, RM; Keough, MJ; Jenkins, GP; Hindell, JS

Short-term differences in animal assemblages in patches formed by loss and growth of habitat

Macreadie, PI

Connolly, RM Keough, MJ Jenkins, GP Hindell, JS

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Austral Ecology, 2010, 35 (5), pp. 515 - 521
Issue Date:: 2010-08-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Macreadie, PI https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7362-0882	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Connolly, RM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Keough, MJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Jenkins, GP	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hindell, JS	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-08-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Austral Ecology, 2010, 35 (5), pp. 515 - 521	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1442-9985	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14756
dc.description.abstract	Ecological theory predicts that habitat growth and loss will have different effects on community structure, even if they produce patches of the same size. Despite this, studies on the effects of patchiness are often performed without prior knowledge of the processes responsible for the patchiness. We manipulated artificial seagrass habitat in temperate Australia to test whether fish and crustacean assemblages differed between habitats that formed via habitat loss and habitat growth. Habitat loss treatments (originally 16 m2) and habitat growth treatments (originally 0 m2) were manipulated over 1 week until each reached a final patch size of 4 m2. At this size, each was compared through time (0-14 days after manipulation) with control patches (4 m2 throughout the experiment). Assemblages differed significantly among treatments at 0 and 1 day after manipulation, with differences between growth and loss treatments contributing to most of the dissimilarity. Immediately after the final manipulation, total abundance in habitat loss treatments was 46% and 62% higher than controls and habitat growth treatments, respectively, which suggests that animals crowded into patches after habitat loss. In contrast to terrestrial systems, crowding effects were brief (≤1 day), signifying high connectivity in marine systems. Growth treatments were no different to controls, despite the lower probability of animals encountering patches during the growth phase. Our study shows that habitat growth and loss can cause short-term differences in animal abundance and assemblage structure, even if they produce patches of the same size. © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Ecological Society of Australia.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Austral Ecology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.02060.x	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	Short-term differences in animal assemblages in patches formed by loss and growth of habitat	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	35	en_US
utslib.for	0608 Zoology	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
dc.location.activity	ISI:000286338300003
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	5	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	35	en_US

Abstract:

Ecological theory predicts that habitat growth and loss will have different effects on community structure, even if they produce patches of the same size. Despite this, studies on the effects of patchiness are often performed without prior knowledge of the processes responsible for the patchiness. We manipulated artificial seagrass habitat in temperate Australia to test whether fish and crustacean assemblages differed between habitats that formed via habitat loss and habitat growth. Habitat loss treatments (originally 16 m2) and habitat growth treatments (originally 0 m2) were manipulated over 1 week until each reached a final patch size of 4 m2. At this size, each was compared through time (0-14 days after manipulation) with control patches (4 m2 throughout the experiment). Assemblages differed significantly among treatments at 0 and 1 day after manipulation, with differences between growth and loss treatments contributing to most of the dissimilarity. Immediately after the final manipulation, total abundance in habitat loss treatments was 46% and 62% higher than controls and habitat growth treatments, respectively, which suggests that animals crowded into patches after habitat loss. In contrast to terrestrial systems, crowding effects were brief (≤1 day), signifying high connectivity in marine systems. Growth treatments were no different to controls, despite the lower probability of animals encountering patches during the growth phase. Our study shows that habitat growth and loss can cause short-term differences in animal abundance and assemblage structure, even if they produce patches of the same size. © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Ecological Society of Australia.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14756