title: Patterns of spatial variation of assemblages associated with intertidal rocky shores: a global perspective.
abstract: Assemblages associated with intertidal rocky shores were examined for large scale distribution patterns with specific emphasis on identifying latitudinal trends of species richness and taxonomic distinctiveness. Seventy-two sites distributed around the globe were evaluated following the standardized sampling protocol of the Census of Marine Life NaGISA project (www.nagisa.coml.org). There were no clear patterns of standardized estimators of species richness along latitudinal gradients or among Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs); however, a strong latitudinal gradient in taxonomic composition (i.e., proportion of different taxonomic groups in a given sample) was observed. Environmental variables related to natural influences were strongly related to the distribution patterns of the assemblages on the LME scale, particularly photoperiod, sea surface temperature (SST) and rainfall. In contrast, no environmental variables directly associated with human influences (with the exception of the inorganic pollution index) were related to assemblage patterns among LMEs. Correlations of the natural assemblages with either latitudinal gradients or environmental variables were equally strong suggesting that neither neutral models nor models based solely on environmental variables sufficiently explain spatial variation of these assemblages at a global scale. Despite the data shortcomings in this study (e.g., unbalanced sample distribution), we show the importance of generating biological global databases for the use in large-scale diversity comparisons of rocky intertidal assemblages to stimulate continued sampling and analyses.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Miranda, Venezuela. juancruz@usb.ve
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cruz-Motta
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miloslavich
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palomo
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iken
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Konar
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pohle
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Trott
authors.forename: Lisandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benedetti-Cecchi
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sardi
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bueno
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Edlin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guerra-Castro
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gobin
authors.forename: Diana Isabel
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riosmena-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mead
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bigatti
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knowlton
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shirayama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000378:metabolism; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003710:Demography; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D000461:Rhodophyta / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature; D001468:Thoracica / Q000378:metabolism