Species Richness of Reef-Building Corals Determined by Local and Regional Processes

Abstract

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Spatial patterns of benthic invertebrate assemblages within atoll lagoons: importance of habitat heterogeneity and considerations for marine protected area design in French Polynesia

“…The intra-lagoonal variation also complements the inter-lagoonal variation found in Tuamotuan atolls . This outcome is consistent with findings of recent studies that clearly demonstrated the importance of both local and regional factors in determining the diversity and structure of coral assemblages and the sensitivity of local coral richness to environmental variation across depth and habitat gradients (Cornell and Karlson 1996;Karlson and Cornell 1998;Rajasuriya et al 1998;Bellwood and Hughes 2001;Karlson et al 2004). The combination of the present study and Adjeroud et al's (2000) emphasizes the importance of nested spatial scales in structuring benthic invertebrate communities.…”

Small‐scale species richness in forest canopy gaps: the role of niche limitation versus the size of the species pool

“…We would then expect a curvilinear relationship between mean quadrat and gap species richness. We tested for a relationship of this form by testing if the inclusion of a second order polynomial in the regression model resulted in a significant improvement in model fit (Cresswell et al 1995;Cornell & Karlson 1996;Caley & Schluter 1997). In all cases, we examined the form of the relationship between mean quadrat and gap species richness first, by including both variables alone in a simple regression model and second, after including other factors (such as gap area, age, shape and orientation) in a multiple regression model to statistically remove their potentially confounding effects.…”

“…In this view, dispersal and recruitment limitation, rather than competition for a limited number of niches, constrains the number and identity of species that co-occur in a local area (Hubbell & Foster 1986). Local areas may differ in the number of species they contain because different numbers of species are available to colonize each local area from the surrounding region (Lawton 1982;Cornell 1985;Hugueny & Paugy 1995;Cornell & Karlson 1996;Partel et al 1996;Caley & Schluter 1997).…”

A tale of two winds: species richness patterns of reef corals around the Semporna peninsula, Malaysia

“…Species richness of coral reefs is driven by an array of factors including geological history, ecological processes and physical environment (Hoeksema 2007;Veron et al 2009), of which habitat heterogeneity is paramount (Hoeksema and Moka 1989;Cornell and Karlson 1996;Karlson 1999;Karlson and Cornell 1999). High species diversity of scleractinian corals is usually found in habitats with distinct environmental gradients, such as exposure to wind, wave and terrestrial inputs (Cleary et al 2005;Hoeksema 2007Hoeksema , 2012a.…”