Interactions in the Marine Benthos Global Patterns and Processes

The synthesis of the Aquatic Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conference (ABEC) 2015, which was held to assess scientific progress over the past twnety-five years, this book provides a comprehensive and global review of work since the 1992 publication of Plant-Animal Interactions in the Marine Benthos. Taking a regional and, where appropriate, habitat perspective, it considers sites of coastal biodiversity from around the world to incorporate a global approach. The volume analyses abiotic and biotic interactions, and the factors determining distribution patterns, community structure and ecosystem functioning of coastal systems. It explores themes of how phylogeography and biogeographic process influence assemblage composition, and hence drive community structure and the respective roles of environmental factors and biological interactions, with the overall goal to establish how general are the processes in different regions and habitats. For researchers, graduate students and academics studying coastal ecosystems, with interest for conservation practitioners managing areas of high biodiversity.

1. Introduction Louise B. Firth, Katrin Bohn, Gray A. Williams and Stephen J. Hawkins; 2. The intertidal zone of the Northeast Atlantic region: pattern and process Stephen J. Hawkins, Kathryn E. Pack, Louise B. Firth, Nova Mieszkowska, Ally Evans, Gustavo M. Martins, Per Åberg, Leoni C. Adams, Francicso Arenas, Diano M. Boaventura, Katrin Bohn, C. Debora G. Borges, Joao J. Castro, Ross A. Coleman, Tasman P. Crowe, Teresa Cruz, Mark S. Davies, Graham Epstein, Joao Faria, Joao G. Ferreira, Natalie J. Frost, John N. Griffin, M. E. Hanley, Roger J. H. Herbert, Kieran Hyder, Mark P. Johnson, Fernando P. Lima, Patricia Masterson-Algar, Pippa J. Moore, Paula S. Moschella, Gillian M. Notman, Federica G. Pannacciulli, Pedro A. Ribeiro, Antonio M. Santos, Ana C. F. Silva, Martin W. Skov, Heather Sugden, Maria Vale, Kringpaka Wangkulangkul, Edward J. G. Wort, Richard C. Thompson, Richard G. Hartnoll, Michael T. Burrows and Stuart R. Jenkins; 3. The ecology of the rocky subtidal habitats of the Northeast Atlantic Keith Hiscock, Hartvig Christie and Trine Bekkby; 4. Rocky intertidal shores of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean Steven R. Dudgeon and Peter S. Petraitis; 5. Subtidal rocky shores of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean: the complex ecology of a simple ecosystem Ladd E. Johnson, Kathleen A. MacGregor, Carla Narvàez and Thew S. Suskiewicz; 6. Shallow water muddy sands of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean: latitudinal patterns in interactions and processes Sarah A. Woodin, Susan S. Bell, Jon Grant, Paul V. R. Snelgrove and David S. Wethey; 7. Biodiversity and interactions on the intertidal rocky shores of Argentina (Southwest Atlantic) Maria Gabriela Palomo, Maria Bagur, Sofia Calla, Maria Cecilia Dalton, Sabrina Andrea Soria and Stephen J. Hawkins; 8. Species interactions and regime shifts in intertidal and subtidal rocky reefs of the Mediterranean Sea Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Laura Airoldi, Fabio Bulleri, Simonetta Fraschetti and Antonio Terlizzi; 9. The restructuring of Levant reefs by aliens, ocean warming and overfishing: implications to species interactions and ecosystem functions Gil Rilov, Ohad Peleg and Tamar Guy-Haim; 10. Northeast Pacific: interactions on intertidal hard substrata and alteration by human impacts Phillip B. Fenberg and Bruce A. Menge; 11. The Northeast Pacific: interactions on subtidal hard substrata Eliza C. Heery and Kenneth P. Sebens; 12. Consumer-resource interactions on an environmental mosaic: the role of top down and bottom-up forcing of ecological interactions along the rocky shores of the temperate Eastern Pacific Moisés A. Aguilera, Bernardo R. Broitman, Julio A. Vásquez and Patricio A. Camus; 13. Where three oceans meet: state of the art and developments in Southern African coastal marine biology Christopher D. McQuaid and Laura K. Blamey; 14. Rocky shores of Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong: past, present and future Gray A. Williams, Benny K. K. Chan and Yun-Wei Dong; 15. Biogeographic comparisons of pattern and process on intertidal rocky reefs of New Zealand and Southeastern Australia David R. Schiel, A. J. Underwood and M. Gee Chapman; 16. The past and future ecologies of Australasian kelp forests Sean D. Connell, Adriana Vergés, Ivan Nagelkerken, Bayden D. Russell, Nick Shears, Thomas Wernberg and Melinda A. Coleman; 17. Kropotkin's garden: facilitation in mangrove ecosystems Mark Huxham, Uta Berger, Martin W. Skov and Wayne P. Sousa; 18. Biofilms in intertidal habitats Hanna Schuster, Mark S. Davies, Stephen J. Hawkins, Richard J. Murphy, Richard C. Thompson and A. J. Underwood; 19. Interactions in the deep sea A. Louise Allcock and Mark P. Johnson; 20. Overview and synthesis Stephen J. Hawkins, Katrin Bohn, Anaëlle J. Lemasson, Gray A. Williams, David R. Schiel, Stuart R. Jenkins and Louise B. Firth.

Steven J. Hawkins is Emeritus Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Southampton and Lankester Research Fellow for the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth.
Katrin Bohn is a Marine Ecology Specialist at Natural England, specialising in condition assessments of Marine Protected Areas, rocky shore monitoring and the ecology of invasive non-native species. Previously, she held research posts at the Universities of Portsmouth and Southampton.
Louise B. Firth is a Lecturer in Marine Ecology at the University of Plymouth, whose research interests include community dynamics and global climate change in both natural and artificial environments.
Gray A. Williams is the Director of The Swire Institute of Marine Science at The University of Hong Kong, and his research is focused on the ecology of shores in Southeast Asia.