AUTHOR=Tait Leigh W. , Schiel David R. TITLE=Ecophysiology of Layered Macroalgal Assemblages: Importance of Subcanopy Species Biodiversity in Buffering Primary Production JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science VOLUME=5 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00444 DOI=10.3389/fmars.2018.00444 ISSN=2296-7745 ABSTRACT=
Shallow coastal rocky reefs worldwide have faced large-scale loss of biodiversity, yet little is known about the contributions of highly diverse multi-layered autotrophic species to ecosystem function over long periods. In this study we tested the role of functional diversity on net primary productivity (NPP) of macroalgal assemblages in one-off, and multi-year experiments. We removed canopy (perennial fucoid), mid-canopy and basal algae (turfing and encrusting algae) in intertidal assemblages and used