Multiscale seascape habitat of necto-benthic littoral species, application to the study of the dusky grouper habitat shift throughout ontogeny. (November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alvarez-Berastegui, D.; Coll, J.; Rueda, L.; Stobart, B.; Morey, G.; Navarro, O.; Aparicio-González, A.; Grau, A.M.; Reñones, O.
• Is Part Of: Marine environmental research. Volume 142(2018)
• Page Start: 21
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2018-11
• Subjects: Seascape ecology -- Cabrera archipelago national park -- Fish habitat -- Marine reserve -- Western mediterranean -- Habitat modeling -- Fisheries assessment; Marine pollution -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Marine ecology -- Periodicals; Mer -- Pollution -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Écologie marine -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 577.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.09.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0141-1136

Abstract

Abstract: Describing the spatial patterns of benthic coastal habitats and investigating how those patterns affect the ecology of inhabiting species is a main objective of seascape ecology. Within this emerging discipline spatial scale is a principal topic. Different spatial scales inform on different characteristics of the habitat and therefore the relation between species and their habitats would be better defined when observed at multiple levels of spatial scale. Here we apply a multiscale seascape approach to investigate the habitat preferences of juvenile and adult individuals of dusky grouper ( Epinephelus marginatus ) in a Mediterranean marine protected area. Results show that the information obtained at different spatial scales is complementary, improving our capability to identify the preferred habitats and how it changes throughout ontogeny. These results show the relevance of implementing multiscale seascape ecology approaches to investigate the species-habitat relationships and to improve management and conservation of necto-benthic endangered top predators. Highlights: Multiscale analyses allowed characterizing dusky grouper habitats along ontogeny. Seascape habitat descriptors at different scales provide complementary information. Seascape ecology provide new insights for conservation on marine ecosystems.