Diversily of associated fauna in beds of the blue musselMytilus edulisL.: Effects of location, patch size, and position within a patch

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Diversity, distribution and abundance of the associated fauna of two naturally occurring beds of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis L. were compared. The mussel beds are located on intertidal sand bars in the mouth of two Danish fjords with similar hydrographical conditions. We test the hypothesis that species diversity, abundance and distribution of the associated fauna at spatial scales of mussel patches is an effect of patch size irrespective of location and position within a patch. A statistical analysis using a hierarchical nested three-factorial ANOVA was performed on numbers of individuals, number of species and numbers in certain higher taxa. Furthermore, comparisons of diversity by using Jackknife estimates of species richness/evenness and the nonparametric Simpson's Index of Diversity were made. The results showed that effects of patch size and position wirhin a patch were inconsistent but differences between stations were pronounced. The fauna at both sites was dominated by mobile species and primary colonizers. The difference in composition between locations indicated higher organic enrichment at Kerteminde. The use of Jackknife estimates of species richness/evenness and Simpson's Index of Diversity was found to be insufficient to describe differences compared to the hierarchical nested ANOVA since the latter provides statistical tests and an estimate of the contribution of the variation at each scale.

This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit: