Seasonality of primary production explains the richness of pioneering benthic communities

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 8340 - 15
• Main Authors: Cecchetto, Matteo, Dettai, Agnès, Gallut, Cyril, Obst, Matthias, Kuklinski, Piotr, Balazy, Piotr, Chelchowski, Maciej, Małachowicz, Magdalena, Poćwierz-Kotus, Anita, Zbawicka, Małgorzata, Reiss, Henning, Eléaume, Marc P., Ficetola, Gentile Francesco, Pavloudi, Christina, Exter, Katrina, Fontaneto, Diego, Schiaparelli, Stefano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27.09.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 45/23; 45/77; 631/158/2452; 631/158/851; 704/158/853; 704/829/826; Animals; Aquatic Organisms - physiology; Benthic communities; Biodiversity; Biodiversity and Ecology; Coastal zone; Coral Reefs; DNA barcoding; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; Ecology; Ecosystem; Ekologi; Energy distribution; Environmental Sciences; Equator; Equatorial regions; Extreme values; Geographical distribution; Humanities and Social Sciences; Marine ecosystems; multidisciplinary; Primary production; Productivity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sea surface temperature; Seasonal distribution; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Species diversity; Species richness; Temperature
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52673-z
• ISSN: 2041-1723

A pattern of increasing species richness from the poles to the equator is frequently observed in many animal taxa. Ecological limits, determined by the abiotic conditions and biotic interactions within an environment, are one of the major factors influencing the geographical distribution of species diversity. Energy availability is often considered a crucial limiting factor, with temperature and productivity serving as empirical measures. However, these measures may not fully explain the observed species richness, particularly in marine ecosystems. Here, through a global comparative approach and standardised methodologies, such as Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) and DNA metabarcoding, we show that the seasonality of primary production explains sessile animal richness comparatively or better than surface temperature or primary productivity alone. A Hierarchical Generalised Additive Model (HGAM) is validated, after a model selection procedure, and the prediction error is compared, following a cross-validation approach, with HGAMs including environmental variables commonly used to explain animal richness. Moreover, the linear effect of production magnitude on species richness becomes apparent only when considered jointly with seasonality, and, by identifying world coastal areas characterized by extreme values of both, we postulate that this effect may result in a positive relationship in environments with lower seasonality. The environmental drivers of species diversity at the global level are difficult to define. This paper, using standardised methodologies, shows that the seasonality of primary production explains marine pioneer metazoan richness comparatively or better than other measures like sea surface temperature.