About This Project

Humans are profoundly altering ecosystems worldwide. While more diverse communities of organisms are assumed to be more resistant to change, it is unknown whether biodiversity can truly buffer ecosystems against human disturbance. To understand the role of biodiversity for ecosystem stability, I am examining the response of small, cryptic fishes to disturbances on marine dock pilings from the icy waters of the Northern Atlantic to the tropical shores of Panama.

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What is the context of this research?

Are more diverse communities more resistant to change? Although a long-standing question in ecology, the relationship between biodiversity and ecological stability in response to human disturbance is poorly understood, especially in marine systems. Given that coastal marine ecosystems are among the most heavily impacted systems by humans on Earth, understanding the role of biodiversity for ecological stability in marine systems is critical. The frequently overlooked, small, cryptic fishes that live on marine dock pilings (such as gobies, blennies, or rock gunnels) represent a perfect system to study this question because they represent diverse communities in a habitat present on shorelines worldwide.

What is the significance of this project?

By sampling cryptobenthic fishes from dock-pilings, the project showcases the beautiful diversity of fishes in an environment literally located in our backyards. Although frequently overlooked, cryptobenthic fishes constitute the majority of marine vertebrate biodiversity and are an integral part of benthic marine food webs worldwide. Thus, the project will yield information about the dynamics of an important component of coastal ecosystems following disturbance, while exposing the hidden biodiversity of fishes in our marine backyards from the tropics to the subarctic. Finally, given the global availability of docks, the proposed project may also set the stage for a large-scale network of fish biodiversity monitoring in artificial marine habitats

What are the goals of the project?

The objective of the project is to experimentally assess the response of animal communities to disturbance across a latitudinal diversity gradient from Panama to Maine. Specifically, I am examining the recovery of small, cryptic, bottom-dwelling fish communities (cryptobenthic fishes) from marine dock pilings after administering a habitat loss treatment (by scraping off the sessile community), predicting that more diverse communities can better withstand the effects of the disturbance. In doing so, I seek to quantify the importance of biodiversity for the response of animal communities to profound changes in their habitat, a process that occurs at larger scales through the loss of coral reefs or seagrass meadows worldwide. Will more diverse communities be more stable?