Quantitative trends in sponge ecology research

It is almost dogmatic that sponges are one of the most relevant groups in ben-thic marine communities, a statement generally based upon their diversity andabundance in natural communities. But beyond their conspicuousness, do wereally know the role that sponges play in nature? Using a series of productivityindicators, this review evaluates the relevance of sponge research to the generalscientific community, particularly the contribution of sponge ecology to thebroader science of ecology. The relevance of sponge research ranked secondout of eight taxonomic groups. Ecology accounted for most of the spongeresearch output but it ranked poorly compared to the relative importance ofthe ecological literature in the remaining taxonomic groups. Sponge ecologyfocused primarily on the species level of organization even though the rele-vance of these studies fell well below expected. This review suggests that theecological relevance of sponges is insufficiently supported by ecological dataand would benefit from better scientific support. Sponge ecology has theopportunity to contribute to the broader science of ecology in numerous topicswhere sponge research may be particularly relevant. Broader ecological contri-butions will help verify the ecological relevance that the great diversity andabundance of sponges suggest.Peer reviewe