Dr Antony Knights1, Dr Kathryn O’Shaugnessy2,3, Professor Stephen Hawkins4,5, Dr Mick Hanley1, Dr Paul Lunt2, Professor Richard Thompson1, Dr Louise Firth1
1School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University Of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom, 2School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University Of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom, 3APEM Ltd, Heaton Mersey, Stockport, United Kingdom, 4Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, 5The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth, United Kingdom
Worldwide, marine coastal environments are being modified to respond to environmental change. Coastlines are increasingly being ‘hardened’ with natural intertidal habitats replaced with concrete shorelines and other interventions, with baseline ecological surveys revealing reduced α-diversity driving a new age of ‘ecologically sensitive’ design often in the form of greening-of-grey infrastructure (GGI) in effort to mitigate biodiversity loss, address concerns of biological homogenisation, and transition from no net biodiversity loss to net environmental gain. The ‘standard’ sampling unit of assessment of biodiversity is mean taxon or functional richness (α-diversity), often across small spatial scales, but are these indicators effective in quantifying impacts of urbanisation? Here we adopt a multiscale (within vs. among sites) and multi-metric (α- and β-diversity) assessment – an approach common in terrestrial urban ecology but rarely applied in marine systems – to test the effect of urbanisation on biodiversity. Results reveal higher α-diversity within and among sites, and higher β-diversity among quadrats within sites on natural shores compared to artificial habitats, as expected. In contrast, regional scale β-diversity revealed greater diversity and variance/turnover, and weaker correlation among artificial sites over natural habitats; findings contrary to the commonly held theory that urban ecosystems are more biologically homogenous than natural ecosystems. Our results challenge the applicability of the biological homogenisation concept to coastal communities and highlight a significant limitation of using a single α-diversity measure (e.g., species richness) in biodiversity assessment, which if used in isolation, could provide misleading understanding of biodiversity, and undermine biodiversity conservation aims.
Biography:
I am an Associate Professor in Marine Ecology and Associate Head of School at the University of Plymouth. I trained as a benthic ecologist working on the recruitment dynamics and early-life histories of marine invertebrates including mussels and oysters. My research focus therefore centres around supply-side ecology (larval dispersal) and recruitment dynamics with a view to understand the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems under current and future environmental (incl. climate) scenarios. My research also has applied applications including informing sustainable resource management and interfacing with environmental policy implementation and ecosystem management at national and international levels.
