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A New Dimensionless Index for Structural Habitat Complexity

EPA Grant Number: U915334
Title: A New Dimensionless Index for Structural Habitat Complexity
Investigators: Bartholomew, Aaron
Institution: Virginia Institute of Marine Science
EPA Project Officer: Broadway, Virginia
Project Period: September 1, 1998 through September 1, 2001
Project Amount: $89,518
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1998)
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Fellowship - Ecology and Ecosystems , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration

Description:

Objective:

The objective of this research project is to develop a dimensionless index of structural habitat complexity that incorporates the size of the spaces within the habitat and the size of the organism of interest. The index is the average interstructural space size in the habitat divided by the linear measure of the organism that would potentially limit its ability to move through the space (Sp/Pr).

Approach:

I repeatedly deployed five types of artificial seagrass plots in a seagrass bed. After 1 week, I collected the plots and counted, identified, and measured the mobile fauna that had colonized the plots. The analyses were conducted using a control plot with no artificial seagrass, a treatment with 3.5 mm space sizes (high cover), a treatment with 9.5 mm space sizes (medium cover), a treatment with 22 mm space sizes (low cover), and a treatment with one-third of each space size (heterogeneous/medium cover overall). I grouped the fauna into three categories: 0-3.5 mm wide, 3.5-9.5 mm wide, and 9.5-22 mm wide (> 22 mm wide was rare).

Supplemental Keywords:

fellowship, habitat complexity, seagrass, fauna. , Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, RFA, Habitat, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Biology, exploratory research environmental biology, wildlife, Ecology, Ecological Indicators, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecosystem Protection, Ecology and Ecosystems, marine ecosystem, predator/prey interactions, terrestrial ecosystems, complex habitats, predation refuges, ecological research, ecological assessment, predicting bioenvironments, habitat parameters, prey survivorship

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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