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.

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.