A study of global biodiversity patterns in the marine motile fauna of hard substrata

A global study of latitudinal gradients in biodiversity of marine shallow-water, motile epifauna of hard substrata has been initiated by Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the International Association of Meiobenthologists. It is based on the use of artificial substratum units (ASUs) consisting of four pan-scourers and emphasizes the standardization of habitat type and complexity, sample area, sampling strategies, sample processing and analysis. Non-comparability of these factors has invalidated some of the few previous studies on global patterns in biodiversity of marine benthic communities which are reported in the literature. A list of sampling locations and participating research organizations is given along with some preliminary results from one location (south-west England)