Marine epibenthic functional diversity on Flemish Cap (north‐west Atlantic)—Identifying trait responses to the environment and mapping ecosystem functions

Abstract Aim To characterize the functional diversity and selected ecological functions of marine epibenthic invertebrate communities at the ecosystem scale and to evaluate the relative contributions of environmental filtering, including bottom‐contact fishing, and competitive interactions to benthic community assembly. Location Flemish Cap, an ecosystem production unit and fishing bank in the high seas of the north‐west Atlantic Ocean. Methods Through the use of Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC), we have explored seven community response traits to the environment applied to... Mehr ...