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.

本研究聚焦于驱动并维持沿海生境中动植物分布与种群丰度格局的过程（项目1：沿海生境生态学，Program 1 - Ecology in Coastal Habitats）。若未能充分掌握此类生境中物种的生态学特性、物种间的相互作用关系，以及相似或不同生境斑块之间的关联，则无法解决沿海环境变化管理中的各类问题。

当前研究工作重点聚焦于解析单一物种种群丰度与复杂物种种群组合的空间变异尺度的相关方法。若无此类研究支撑，既无法预判人类活动扰动沿海生境所带来的影响后果，也无法制定合理连贯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）同样积极开展不同生境的生物多样性实验分析，尤其聚焦于如何量化构成沿海生物多样性的复杂相互作用物种种群集合随时间的变化规律与空间分布差异。其余研究项目则针对相关模型提出的假说展开验证，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局部多样性变异的过程展开。若无此类研究，澳大利亚沿海社区实现生物多样性保护、生境修复，以及理解与管理人类活动影响的目标将无从达成。

该中心依托旨在开发与完善生态格局与过程研究方法的各类科研项目，已产出大量学术论文与学位论文。本记录中附带的链接可跳转至该类研究的相关页面。