Theme 1C: Development of new methodologies of measurement of ecological structure and function.

Research is focussed on the processes causing and maintaining patterns of distribution and abundance of animals and plants in coastal habitats (Program 1 - Ecology in Coastal Habitats). Without a good understanding of the ecology of species in these habitats, the interactions among the species and the relationships among patches of similar or different habitat, it is not possible to solve problems in the management of coastal change.Current research efforts are focused on methods for understanding spatial scales of variation in abundances of single species and of complex sets of species. Without this research, it is impossible to predict the consequences of human changes to coastal habitats, nor is it possible to make coherent plans for marine reserves.The Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities (EICC) is also very active in experimental analyses of biodiversity in different habitats and, particularly, how to measure changes through time and differences in space in the complex, interacting assemblages of species that make up coastal biodiversity. Other research projects are testing hypotheses from models about the processes linking ecological functions in a habitat and the local variations in diversity of the animals that bring about these functions. Without this research, conservation of biodiversity, restoration of habitats and understanding and managing impacts are impossible goals for Australian coastal communities.The (EICC) has generated many scientific papers and theses from research projects aimed at developing and improving the methods used to investigate ecological patterns and processes. The link to the URL provided in this record provides a link to this research.本研究聚焦于导致并维持沿海生境中动植物分布与丰度格局的相关过程（项目1——沿海生境生态学）。若无法充分理解这些生境中物种的生态学特性、物种间的相互作用，以及相似或不同生境斑块间的关联，则无法解决沿海环境变化管理中的各类问题。 当前研究工作聚焦于探索单一物种种群丰度及复杂物种种群组合的空间变异尺度的相关方法。缺乏此类研究，便无法预测人类活动对沿海生境造成的影响后果，也无法制定连贯一致的海洋保护区规划方案。 沿海城市生态影响研究中心（Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, EICC）亦积极开展不同生境下的生物多样性实验分析，尤其致力于探究如何量化构成沿海生物多样性的复杂互作物种种群的时间变化与空间差异。 其余研究项目则针对相关模型提出的假说开展验证：这些假说围绕连接生境生态功能与介导该功能的动物类群本地多样性变异的过程展开。 若无此类研究，澳大利亚沿海社区的生物多样性保护、生境修复以及影响评估与管理都将无法实现。 该中心（EICC）依托各类旨在开发与完善生态格局与过程研究方法的研究项目，已产出大量学术论文与学位论文。 本记录中提供的URL链接可跳转至相关研究内容。