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Marine Ecology Progress Series
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MEPS 505:295-298 (2014)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10830

COMMENT
Meiobenthos and macrobenthos are discrete entities and not artefacts of sampling a size continuum: Comment on Bett (2013)

R. M. Warwick1,2,*

1Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK
2Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: Species size distributions for metazoan benthic invertebrates conform to the highly conservative bimodal pattern, regardless of the sieve mesh sizes or numbers of sieves used in their extraction. This pattern is not an artefact of sampling a size continuum as suggested by computer simulations using just 2 fixed mesh sizes in Bett (2013; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 487:1-6). Meiobenthos and macrobenthos are coherent entities, each with a distinct suite of functional attributes, and should not be regarded as a single unit for ecological modelling purposes.


KEY WORDS: Marine benthic invertebrates · Species size distributions · Meiobenthos · Macrobenthos · Functional traits


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Cite this article as: Warwick RM (2014) Meiobenthos and macrobenthos are discrete entities and not artefacts of sampling a size continuum: Comment on Bett (2013). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 505:295-298. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10830

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Published in MEPS Vol. 505. Online publication date: May 28, 2014
Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599
Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.
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