| Coastal zones worldwide are home to a large diversity of ecosystem engineers that perform key functions such as the recycling of organic matter and nutrients. The habitats resulting from the biological activity of these species are exposed to numerous disturbances such as over harvesting and trampling or via coastal modification. In this context, it is becoming key to understand the functioning of these engineered habitats and how they are affected by increasing disturbances. During my PhD, I used the reef habitat built by the gregarious tubiculous polychaete Sabellaria alveolata as a study case. First, the environmental and biotic changes associated with the establishment of a S. alveolata reef and its increasing disturbance were assessed, focusing on... |
