Fine-scale effects of boat moorings on soft sediment communities masked in large-scale comparisons

摘要: Population growth is driving demand for recreational marine infrastructure, resulting in extensive coastal habitat modification. Boat moorings, example, are popular vessel storage and known to be damaging seagrass communities, yet little about how they influence unvegetated sediment habitats. Here we investigate effects of boat moorings on infauna using metrics community composition, diversity, total abundance abundances individual functional groups dominant taxa. Metrics were compared at fine larger spatial scales variability affects the ecological assessments soft-sedimentary environments. Fine-scale models revealed changes composition mollusc with distance from while grain size was also an important predictor bivalve polychaete although direction varied. When same (i.e. boating infrastructure present or lacking) found that among locations detected, but no effect moorings. With increasing urbanisation industrialisation areas there a clear need account scale potential investigations developments.