Drivers of coastal benthic communities in a complex environmental setting

Analyzing the environmental factors affecting benthic communities in coastal areas is crucial for uncovering key factors that require conservation action. Here, we collected benthic and environmental (physical-chemical-historical and land-based) data for 433 transects in Taiwan. Using a k-means approach, five communities dominated by crustose coralline algae, turfs, stony corals, digitate, or bushy octocorals were first delineated. Conditional random forest models then identified physical, chemical, and land-based factors (e.g., light intensity, nitrite, and population density) relevant to community delineation and occurrence. Historical factors, including typhoons and temperature anomalies, had only little effect. The prevalent turf community correlated positively with chemical and land-based drivers, which suggests that anthropogenic impacts are causing a benthic homogenization. This mechanism may mask the effects of climate disturbances and regional differentiation of benthic assembl..., Full details on sample collection and analyses are available in the published manuscript.
Lin, Y.V., Château, P.-A, Nozawa, Y., Wei, C.-L, Wunderlich, R.F., Denis, V. (2024) Drivers of coastal benthic communities in a complex environmental setting. Marine Pollution Bulletin 203, 116462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116462, , # Data from: Drivers of coastal benthic communities in a complex environmental setting

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This README.md was generated on 2024-06-03 by Yuting Vicky Lin ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])).

1. **Author Information**
* First author
* Name: Dr. Yuting Vicky Lin
* Institution: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
* Second author
* Name: Prof. Pierre-Alexandre Château
* Institution: Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 80420, Taiwan
* Third author
* Name: Prof. Yoko Nozawa
* Institution: Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 905-0227, Japan
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
* ...