The breakdown of functional uniformity at fine spatial scales in an intertidal seagrass macrobenthic community

We investigated the scale-dependent distribution of macrobenthic functional groups in Zostera-dominated seagrass beds, focusing on fine spatial scales (0.014 m², 0.09 m², 0.8 m², and 4.4 m²). We examined how functional group metrics, including spatial autocorrelation and patchiness, vary with scale and how fine-scale heterogeneity influences broader patterns of uniformity across scales. Our findings reveal that predatory groups show reduced presence at finer scales, while detritivores and omnivores exhibit more stable distributions. Negative spatial autocorrelation at small scales suggests local interactions disrupt aggregation, leading to more dispersed patterns. Moran's I distance matrix shows how functional groups exhibit more uniform and random spatial autocorrelation at larger distances. These results underscore the critical role of scale in shaping community structure and ecosystem functioning, with fine-scale processes driving broader-scale functional group distributions. This study highlights the need for future research to develop quantitative models that capture transitions in ecological processes across scales and apply these insights to other ecosystems.