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<p>Understanding how communities respond to the diversity of habitats within highly heterogeneous ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is essential to anticipate the consequences of the different impacts to which reefs are subject and to guide effective conservation strategies. Here, we investigate the effect of habitat diversity in a shallow tropical reef on the variability of the taxonomic and functional structure of nematode assemblages, testing the following hypothesis: (i) Distinct microhabitats support taxonomically and functionally different nematode assemblages, resulting in high beta diversity among microhabitats, with turnover as the dominant component (ii) Assemblages of distinct microhabitats exhibit low functional redundancy and high vulnerability. Nematodes were collected from seven reef microhabitats: coral degradation zone (CDZ); fine sand sediments; medium sand sediments; rhodolith beds; <i>Sargassum</i> sp.; Turf algae; and <i>Zoanthus sociatus</i>. Nematodes were identified to genus level and analyzed through functional traits. Despite some structural similarities, assemblages across microhabitats were taxonomically and functionally distinct, showing high turnover and indicator genera with strong fidelity and specificity. Rhodolith beds hosted the highest taxonomic and functional diversity and CDZ presented highest richness estimates. Overall, assemblages exhibited low functional redundancy and high vulnerability, with most functional entities represented by a single genus. These results highlight the need to preserve microhabitat diversity to sustain coral reef biodiversity and the ecosystem functions and services it supports.</p>

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Microhabitat heterogeneity promotes low-redundant and highly diverse taxonomic and functional nematode assemblages in a shallow coral reef ecosystem

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月8日

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  • Frediano Lucas,
  • Fábio Lucas de Oliveira Barros,
  • Paulo Jorge Parreira dos Santos,
  • Taciana Kramer de Oliveira Pinto

摘要

Understanding how communities respond to the diversity of habitats within highly heterogeneous ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is essential to anticipate the consequences of the different impacts to which reefs are subject and to guide effective conservation strategies. Here, we investigate the effect of habitat diversity in a shallow tropical reef on the variability of the taxonomic and functional structure of nematode assemblages, testing the following hypothesis: (i) Distinct microhabitats support taxonomically and functionally different nematode assemblages, resulting in high beta diversity among microhabitats, with turnover as the dominant component (ii) Assemblages of distinct microhabitats exhibit low functional redundancy and high vulnerability. Nematodes were collected from seven reef microhabitats: coral degradation zone (CDZ); fine sand sediments; medium sand sediments; rhodolith beds; Sargassum sp.; Turf algae; and Zoanthus sociatus. Nematodes were identified to genus level and analyzed through functional traits. Despite some structural similarities, assemblages across microhabitats were taxonomically and functionally distinct, showing high turnover and indicator genera with strong fidelity and specificity. Rhodolith beds hosted the highest taxonomic and functional diversity and CDZ presented highest richness estimates. Overall, assemblages exhibited low functional redundancy and high vulnerability, with most functional entities represented by a single genus. These results highlight the need to preserve microhabitat diversity to sustain coral reef biodiversity and the ecosystem functions and services it supports.