Peracarids From Three Low-Energy Fine-Sand Beaches Of Mexico: Western Coast Of Gulf Of California

Abstract

Functional diversity (FD) is the value and range of functional traits and ecosystem function of organisms present in a community. In marine macrocrustacean communities, FD has traditionally been expressed by taxonomic composition, and patterns of taxonomic richness (e.g., species richness [SR]) are considered relevant to FD. However, SR is not always used to express FD because there may be overlaps in species' functional roles (i.e., functional redundancy) due to multiple-traits of many macrocrustacean species. This chapter describes the spatiotemporal variations of FD of a macrocrustacean communities using the data collected by 2 spatiotemporal sampling designs in seagrass meadows at the Akkeshi-ko estuary (northeastern Japan) and Tokyo Bay (central part of Japan) along Pacific coast. FDs were measured using ecological multiple-traits such as occurrence, life type, feeding type, and size, a total of 32 categories in 4 functional traits. FD variation was significantly different among areas (tens of km 2 ). Keywords:Akkeshi-ko estuary; functional diversity (FD); functional redundancy; macrocrustacean communities; seagrass meadows; spatiotemporal variations; species richness (SR); Tokyo Bay