Scales of spatial variation in tropical benthic assemblages and their ecological relevance: epibionts on Caribbean mangrove roots as a model system

Abstract

Supplement 1. Taxonomic classification and photographic guide of species registered as epibionts on mangrove roots from Parque Nacional Laguna de La Restinga and Parque Nacional Morrocoy, Venezuela. Adequate taxonomic classification of species was based mainly with local inventories. Most of these studies are undergraduate thesis, books and published papers. Also, personal communications with experts was necessary for some taxa. For sponges, the most important inventories were done by Díaz et al. (1985), Díaz et al. (2003), Pérez (2007) and Young (2010). For tunicates, the only relevant study was carried out by Rocha et al. (2010). Similarly, for anemones, the only reference belongs to González-Muños et al.

Peer Review #1 of "On the importance of spatial scales on beta diversity of coral assemblages: a study from Venezuelan coral reefs (v0.1)"

“…In Venezuela, encrusting communities associated with mangrove roots have been studied following a spatial hierarchical design (Guerra-castro et al, 2016). Similar to our results, higher variation for this assemblages were found at the smallest and biggest scales (Guerra-castro et al, 2016).…”

“…In Venezuela, encrusting communities associated with mangrove roots have been studied following a spatial hierarchical design (Guerra-castro et al, 2016). Similar to our results, higher variation for this assemblages were found at the smallest and biggest scales (Guerra-castro et al, 2016). Moreover, algal assemblages associated rocky platforms have previously been found to be highly variable at tens of kilometers and not between localities or regions, further illustrating the importance of local processes in providing structure to different assemblages of sessile organisms in the country (Cruz-Motta, 2007).…”

Colonization and succession as drivers of small-scale spatial variability in epibionts on mangrove roots in the Southern Caribbean

“…On each occasion, the AMRs were measured linearly in cm (all AMRs had the same diameter) with a measuring tape, from the high tide mark to the tip of the AMR. Natural variation among neighboring roots for comparison with AMRs was obtained for each site at the beginning and end of experiments with AMRs, using the same fieldwork protocol as that described by Guerra-Castro et al (2016).…”

“…This discussion is particularly relevant in the ecology of epibenthic assemblages associated with Caribbean mangrove roots, a system in which large variations in species diversity among neighboring roots (i.e. smallest spatial scale) have always been recognized but not experimentally assessed (Farnsworth & Ellison 1996, Hunting et al 2008, Díaz & Rützler 2009, Guerra-Castro et al 2016.…”

Variation in a simple trait of mangrove roots governs predator access to, and assemblage composition of, epibiotic sponges

“…The larger circle around the points representing suspended roots indicates higher variance in sponge ensembles between roots (compared to ensembles on grounded roots) study location. Even highly localized factors such as chemical signatures, light exposure, sponge larval settlement preferences, or root assemblage successional stage, among others, may contribute to the composition and abundance of sponge species living on a particular type of root (Hunting et al 2010, Guerra-Castro et al 2016. However, such localized factors would have to vary systematically within roots of each type for them to help explain the strong differences between root types that we found in our study over a small spatial scale.…”