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).