Alpha diversity
For alpha diversity estimates based on macrofaunal polychaetes data and eDNA benthic metazoan data, distant stations generally had higher alpha diversity than stations close to cage edge for both datasets (Figure 2). Alpha diversity richness parameters were negatively correlated with pore-water sulphide concentration, with coefficients ranging from -0.62 to -0.48 (Figure 3, Figure S3). The LMM analyses showed positive linear relationships between the two alpha diversity parameters generated from eDNA data and distance from cage edge (Figure S4).