Information on the ecology of invertebrate communities populating Macrocystis pyrifera forests in the Falkland Islands is scarce. Indeed, the factors influencing diversity, distribution and community structure have never been studied here. Benthic photoquadrats were collected along three permanent 20 m transects at three depth strata (shallow 5–10 m; middle 10–15 m; deep 15–20 m) off the coast of Kidney Island, Falkland Islands from Austral summer 2009 to Austral spring 2010. 146 taxa comprising 10 phyla and 21 classes were recorded during the surveys, with the most abundant sessile and vagile taxa being Spirorbinid worms and the hermit crab Pagurus comptus, respectively. Community structure was influenced by depth, with highest species richness in the middle depth stratum, and strong contrasts between the communities in the shallow and deep depth strata. Influence of season on community structure was evident, though not as strong a factor as depth. Spring and summer months were most species rich, demonstrating a difference between the shallow subtidal regions of Patagonia where species richness was reported to be highest in Austral autumn and winter. The effect of substrate and depth was also investigated for the abundance of individual taxa. This study provides the first description of the fauna and flora of shallow rocky reefs in the Falkland Islands, describing how these communities change over small spatial and temporal scales. The outcomes of this investigation contribute to better understanding ecological patterns of the Falklands shallow benthic environments and adds knowledge to the biogeography of the South Atlantic.

中文翻译：

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深度和季节对福克兰群岛 Macrocystis pyrifera 森林底栖群落的影响

关于居住在福克兰群岛 Macrocystis pyrifera 森林的无脊椎动物群落的生态信息很少。事实上，这里从未研究过影响多样性、分布和群落结构的因素。从 2009 年澳大利亚夏季到 2010 年春季，在福克兰群岛肾脏岛海岸附近的三个深度地层（浅 5-10 m；中 10-15 m；深 15-20 m）沿三个永久性 20 m 横断面收集底栖照相样方. 调查期间记录了146个分类群，包括10门和21个纲，最丰富的无柄和游走类群分别是Spirorbinid蠕虫和寄居蟹Pagurus comptus。群落结构受深度影响，中深层物种丰富度最高，浅层和深层地层中的群落对比强烈。季节对群落结构的影响是明显的，虽然不如深度那么强。春季和夏季月份是物种最丰富的月份，这表明巴塔哥尼亚浅潮下带地区之间存在差异，据报道，南方秋季和冬季的物种丰富度最高。还研究了底物和深度对个体分类群丰度的影响。这项研究首次描述了福克兰群岛浅层岩礁的动植物群，描述了这些群落如何在小空间和时间尺度上发生变化。