Ferrari Renata, Bryson Mitch, Bridge Tom, Hustache Julie, Williams Stefan B, Byrne Maria, Figueira Will
Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Australian Centre for Field Robotics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Glob Chang Biol. 2016 May;22(5):1965-75. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13197. Epub 2016 Feb 29.
Habitat structural complexity is a key factor shaping marine communities. However, accurate methods for quantifying structural complexity underwater are currently lacking. Loss of structural complexity is linked to ecosystem declines in biodiversity and resilience. We developed new methods using underwater stereo-imagery spanning 4 years (2010-2013) to reconstruct 3D models of coral reef areas and quantified both structural complexity at two spatial resolutions (2.5 and 25 cm) and benthic community composition to characterize changes after an unprecedented thermal anomaly on the west coast of Australia in 2011. Structural complexity increased at both resolutions in quadrats (4 m(2)) that bleached, but not those that did not bleach. Changes in complexity were driven by species-specific responses to warming, highlighting the importance of identifying small-scale dynamics to disentangle ecological responses to disturbance. We demonstrate an effective, repeatable method for quantifying the relationship among community composition, structural complexity and ocean warming, improving predictions of the response of marine ecosystems to environmental change.
栖息地结构复杂性是塑造海洋群落的关键因素。然而，目前缺乏准确量化水下结构复杂性的方法。结构复杂性的丧失与生物多样性和恢复力方面的生态系统衰退有关。我们利用跨越4年（2010 - 2013年）的水下立体图像开发了新方法，以重建珊瑚礁区域的三维模型，并在两个空间分辨率（2.5厘米和25厘米）下量化结构复杂性以及底栖生物群落组成，以描述2011年澳大利亚西海岸发生前所未有的热异常后所产生的变化。在发生白化的样方（4平方米）中，两个分辨率下的结构复杂性均有所增加，但未发生白化的样方则不然。复杂性的变化是由物种对变暖的特定反应驱动的，这凸显了识别小规模动态以理清对干扰的生态反应的重要性。我们展示了一种有效、可重复的方法，用于量化群落组成、结构复杂性和海洋变暖之间的关系，改进了对海洋生态系统对环境变化反应的预测。
