Macrofauna play a key role in the functioning of mangrove ecosystems. Nevertheless, our understanding of the diversity and functional structure of macrofaunal communities across different habitats in the mangrove forests of the Persian Gulf is limited. In this study, we investigated species diversity and biological trait patterns of macrofauna in different mangrove-associated habitats, i.e., encompassing actual mangrove forests, and adjacent Beaches and Creeks, which exhibit different levels of habitat heterogeneity. Samples were collected from the different habitats in five different locations, over four seasons. A total of 122 macrofauna taxa were identified. The diversity of species was higher in summer than in winter. In the Beach habitats, species diversity showed an increasing trend from land toward the mangrove, whereas in Creek habitats diversity decreased from the Creek toward the mangrove. Multivariate community analysis showed differences in the distribution of abundant species and biological traits across all habitats. Deposit-feeding, crawlers, medium-size, and free-living were the dominant trait modalities in all habitats. The similarities within habitats over the four seasons had the same specific pattern of species and biological trait abundance in the Beach and the Creek, increasing from the non-covered habitat into the mangrove trees. Although many species shared similar traits, the abundance-driven differences in trait expression between habitats showed the importance of habitat filtering. The results of this study will be useful in the conservation of mangrove forests and they give a deeper understanding of the ecological patterns and functions of benthic macrofaunal communities in the Persian Gulf.

中文翻译：

---

波斯湾不同红树林栖息地大型动物的物种组成和功能特征

大型动物在红树林生态系统的功能中发挥着关键作用。然而，我们对波斯湾红树林不同栖息地大型动物群落的多样性和功能结构的了解是有限的。在这项研究中，我们调查了不同红树林相关栖息地中大型动物群的物种多样性和生物特征模式，即包括实际的红树林以及相邻的海滩和小溪，它们表现出不同程度的栖息地异质性。样本是从五个不同地点、四个季节的不同栖息地收集的。共确定了 122 个大型动物分类群。夏季物种多样性高于冬季。在海滩栖息地，物种多样性呈现出从陆地向红树林增加的趋势，而在克里克栖息地，多样性从克里克向红树林下降。多变量群落分析显示所有栖息地的丰富物种和生物特征分布存在差异。沉积喂养、爬行类、中型和自由生活是所有栖息地的主要特征模式。四个季节栖息地内的相似性在海滩和小溪中具有相同的特定物种模式和生物特征丰度，从未覆盖的栖息地增加到红树林。尽管许多物种具有相似的特征，但栖息地之间特征表达的丰度驱动差异表明栖息地过滤的重要性。