Chapter 12
How 3D Complexity of Macrophyte-Formed
Habitats Affect the Processes Structuring Fish
Assemblages Within Coastal Temperate
Seascapes?
Pierre Thiriet, Adrien Cheminée, Luisa Mangialajo and Patrice Francour
Abstract Macrophyte-formed habitats are important components of coastal temperate seascapes. They usually host higher diversity and density of fishes, including
both adult and juvenile individuals. Here we synthesized the ecological processes
underlying differences in fish assemblage structure among habitats, with an emphasis on the effects of habitat architectural complexity, which results in great part from
the state of macrophyte assembalges. At a wide spatial scale, oceanographic patterns
affect larval survival and dispersal and consecutive broad patterns of juvenile settlement. At a finer spatial scale, architectural complexities of the habitats affect their
quality (basically food availability and predation risk) which drives local patterns
of juvenile abundances through differential mortality and active habitat selection.
Hence, the analysis and understanding of juvenile/adult abundance patterns have to
consider nested sets of seascape features.
Keywords Fish settlement · Food availability · Shelter availability · Predation
mortality · Habitat choice
12.1 What Is a Seascape from an Ecological Perspective
A seascape is a wholly or partially submerged landscape. By analogy with terrestrial
landscape ecology, a seascape is a heterogeneous area that may be seen as a mosaic
of patches, which belong to different types (“Patch mosaic model”) (Bostrom et al.
P. Thiriet () · A. Cheminée · L. Mangialajo · P. Francour
Université Nice-Sophia Antipolis, EA 4228 ECOMERS,
Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
e-mail: pierre.thiriet@unice.fr
A. Cheminée
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/INSU, IRD, MIO, UM 110,
Campus de Luminy, Case 901, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France
O. Musard et al. (eds.), Underwater Seascapes, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-03440-9_12,
185
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
How 3D Complexity of Macrophyte-Formed
Habitats Affect the Processes Structuring Fish
Assemblages Within Coastal Temperate
Seascapes?
Pierre Thiriet, Adrien Cheminée, Luisa Mangialajo and Patrice Francour
Abstract Macrophyte-formed habitats are important components of coastal temperate seascapes. They usually host higher diversity and density of fishes, including
both adult and juvenile individuals. Here we synthesized the ecological processes
underlying differences in fish assemblage structure among habitats, with an emphasis on the effects of habitat architectural complexity, which results in great part from
the state of macrophyte assembalges. At a wide spatial scale, oceanographic patterns
affect larval survival and dispersal and consecutive broad patterns of juvenile settlement. At a finer spatial scale, architectural complexities of the habitats affect their
quality (basically food availability and predation risk) which drives local patterns
of juvenile abundances through differential mortality and active habitat selection.
Hence, the analysis and understanding of juvenile/adult abundance patterns have to
consider nested sets of seascape features.
Keywords Fish settlement · Food availability · Shelter availability · Predation
mortality · Habitat choice
12.1 What Is a Seascape from an Ecological Perspective
A seascape is a wholly or partially submerged landscape. By analogy with terrestrial
landscape ecology, a seascape is a heterogeneous area that may be seen as a mosaic
of patches, which belong to different types (“Patch mosaic model”) (Bostrom et al.
P. Thiriet () · A. Cheminée · L. Mangialajo · P. Francour
Université Nice-Sophia Antipolis, EA 4228 ECOMERS,
Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
e-mail: pierre.thiriet@unice.fr
A. Cheminée
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/INSU, IRD, MIO, UM 110,
Campus de Luminy, Case 901, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France
O. Musard et al. (eds.), Underwater Seascapes, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-03440-9_12,
185
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014