Cross shelf benthic biodiversity patterns in the Southern Red Sea
Type
ArticleAuthors
Ellis, Joanne
Anlauf, Holger
Kurten, Saskia
Lozano-Cortés, Diego

Alsaffar, Zahra Hassan Ali

Curdia, Joao
Jones, Burton

Carvalho, Susana

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Date
2017-03-27Online Publication Date
2017-03-27Print Publication Date
2017-12Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/623075
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The diversity of coral reef and soft sediment ecosystems in the Red Sea has to date received limited scientific attention. This study investigates changes in the community composition of both reef and macrobenthic communities along a cross shelf gradient. Coral reef assemblages differed significantly in species composition and structure with location and depth. Inner shelf reefs harbored less abundant and less diverse coral assemblages with higher percentage macroalgae cover. Nutrient availability and distance from the shoreline were significantly related to changes in coral composition and structure. This study also observed a clear inshore offshore pattern for soft sediment communities. In contrast to the coral reef patterns the highest diversity and abundance of soft sediment communities were recorded at the inshore sites, which were characterized by a higher number of opportunistic polychaete species and bivalves indicative of mild disturbance. Sediment grain size and nutrient enrichment were important variables explaining the variability. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of ecosystem processes and biodiversity in the Red Sea region in an area that also has the potential to provide insight into pressing topics, such as the capacity of reef systems and benthic macrofaunal organisms to adapt to global climate change.Citation
Ellis J, Anlauf H, Kürten S, Lozano-Cortés D, Alsaffar Z, et al. (2017) Cross shelf benthic biodiversity patterns in the Southern Red Sea. Scientific Reports 7. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00507-y.Sponsors
This research has been developed using funding from the Saudi Aramco KAUST Marine Environmental Observations (SAKMEO) research program. We would like to thank Ali M. Qasem (Saudi Aramco) for information regarding the industrial facilities in the Jizan area. This paper has been reviewed and approved by Saudi Aramco Public Relation Department (Tracking number 16-3669). We wish to thank the crew of the R.V. Thuwal for their assistance in collecting the field samples. Finally we would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on this manuscript that improved the quality of the paper.Publisher
Springer NatureJournal
Scientific ReportsAdditional Links
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00507-yae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/s41598-017-00507-y
Scopus Count
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