NSFGEO-NERC: Why are complex habitats more diverse?

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Most habitats on the planet are surface habitats—from the abyssal trenches to the tops of mountains, from coral reefs to the tundra. Surface habitats vary in complexity, from relatively simple, planar surfaces to highly complex three-dimensional structures. One of ecology’s key paradigms is that complex habitats tend to contain more species and at higher abundances than flat, simple habitats. Meanwhile, human and natural disturbances are fast changing the complexity of habitats. Understanding and predicting the effects of these habitat changes on biodiversity is therefore now of paramount importance. The project uses novel 3D surface modelling technology to accurately measure habitat complexity and determine how changes in complexity affect the diversity of organisms that live among the habitat. The project trains two post-docs, one to two PhD students and up to 10 undergraduate and other interns on the use of cutting-edge technology to quantify ecological change. Outcomes from this project facilitate assessment and projection of impacts of ecosystem flattening on biodiversity and ecosystem function, as well as for forecasting the impact of change on ecosystems and economies.The goal of this project is to quantify the geometry of surface habitats and examine habitat complexity-biodiversity coupling. Using coral reefs as a test system, the project integrates ecological theory, 3D surface mapping and associated biodiversity and environmental data, and experimental manipulations to build a mechanistic framework for complexity-biodiversity relationships. The project is generalizable to other surface habitats, and therefore can be used for testing complexity-biodiversity relationships globally and across other surface ecosystems. The project has three main objectives: (1) to develop an approach to quantify of habitat complexity by establishing the geometric variables that best capture surface complexity; (2) to integrate geometric and ecological theory to separate the effects of surface complexity and area on species’ richness, composition and abundances; and (3) to experimentally test theory predictions by measuring environmental and biodiversity changes caused by manipulations of habitat complexity. Success in this endeavor will provide a much-needed framework for predicting ecosystem responses to changing dimensionality of habitat structure.This project is jointly funded by the Biological Oceanography Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.