Differences in richness and abundance of species assemblages in tropical seagrass beds of different structural complexity

Abstract

Seagrasses are a major functioning element which maintain the high productivities of tropical marine regions. The structural role of seagrass depends largerly on the amount of material it develops above and below ground. The objective of the study is to analyse how species composition and density of seagrass beds influence associated communities of marine organisms. Seagrass beds were selected based on species composition and density. Seagrass associated flora and fauna including epiphyte, zoo and phytoplankton, fish and macrozoobenthic communities were compared between seagrass beds differed in its structural complexity. This study suggest that there was a variability in diversity and abundant of community assemblages in different structural complexity of seagrass. Variability of the assemblages was associated with the presence or absence of seagrass, density and/or species composition and not specific physical-chemical features.

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