AimBiogenic structural complexity increases mobile animal richness and abundance at local, regional and global scales, yet animal taxa vary in their response to complexity. When these taxa also vary functionally, habitat structures favouring certain taxa may have consequences for ecosystem function. We characterised global patterns of epifaunal invertebrates in eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds that varied in structural and genetic composition.LocationNorth America, Europe and Asia.Time Period2014.Major Taxa StudiedPeracarid crustaceans and gastropod molluscs.MethodsWe sampled epifaunal invertebrate communities in 49 eelgrass beds across 37° latitude in two ocean basins concurrently with measurements of eelgrass genetic diversity, structural complexity and other abiotic and biotic environmental variables. We examined how species richness, abundance and community composition varied with latitude and environmental predictors using a random forest approach. We also examined how functional trait composition varied along with community structure.ResultsTotal species richness decreased with latitude, but this was accompanied by a taxonomic shift in dominance from peracarid crustaceans to gastropods, which exhibited different sets of functional traits. Greater eelgrass genetic diversity was strongly correlated with both richness and abundance of peracarids, but less so for gastropods.Main ConclusionsOur results add to a growing body of literature that suggests genetic variation in plant traits influences their associated faunal assemblages via habitat structure. Because peracarids and gastropods exhibited distinct functional traits, our results suggest a tentative indirect link between broad‐scale variation in plant genetic diversity and ecosystem function.

中文翻译：

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大鳗草表层动物群落分类结构的纬度谱系与植物遗传多样性相关


生物结构的复杂性增加了当地、区域和全球范围内可移动动物的丰富度和丰度，但动物类群对复杂性的反应各不相同。当这些类群的功能也发生变化时，有利于某些类群的栖息地结构可能会对生态系统功能产生影响。我们描述了鳗草（ Zostera marina ）床中表层动物无脊椎动物的整体模式，这些模式在结构和遗传组成上有所不同。