title: A multivariate approach to analyzing functional redundancy of marine periphytic ciliates during the colonization process for bioassessment in coastal ecosystems.
abstract: Functional redundancy is a useful tool for determining functional compensation and for reducing "signal to noise" ratios of full-species datasets in community-based monitoring programs. The functional redundancy of marine periphytic ciliate communities during the colonization process in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, China, was analyzed using a peeling procedure (BVSTEP). Four response units (RUs) with trophic-functional equivalents were identified from the full 77-species dataset. These RUs, which comprised four, seven, six and six species respectively, represented a clear variation in trophic-functional structures across the levels of functional redundancy. RU1 was dominated by bacterivores, RU2 and RU3 first by bacterivores then by algivores, and RU4 first by non-selectives and bacterivores then by algivores. The colonization process and growth curve of each RU were significantly well-fitted to the MacArthur-Wilson and logistic models, respectively. These results suggest that RUs can be used as changeable trophic-functional equivalents for bioassessment in marine ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
authors.forename: Guangjian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China; College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: henglongxu@126.com.
authors.forename: Henglong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D016798:Ciliophora; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring
keywords: Bioassessment; Colonization dynamics; Functional redundancy; Marine ecosystems; Periphytic ciliates; Trophic-functional group