Habitat structure and regulation of local species diversity in a stony, upland stream

Abstract

Habitat structure may regulate species diversity at local scales, with complex habitats being normally associated with greater species richness than simple ones. We employed a flaw method of quantifying habitat structure to examine community structure in a stone-dwelling community of mobile macroinvertebrates inhabiting a perennial, upland stream (the Steavenson River) in southeastern Australia. We distinguished between the effects of increasing habitat structure by adding similar physical elements (habitat complexity) from that produced by adding qualitatively different sources of habitat structure (habitat heterogeneity) at spatial scales relevant to the biota. We used a field experiment t..