Fig. 4
Meta-analysis of a abundance (density, m−3) across latitudes and b species richness of sediment communities. Abundance from samples using 1 mm mesh were doubled to compare with those from 0.5 mm mesh, following White and Marine benthos [25]. Average abundance from the current study is marked with a cross. Regression line log10(abundance) = 3.7609–0.0065 latitude. Species richness data from Hangar Cove (dotted line) and South Cove (solid line) were randomly selected and summed to create finders curves for each Cove. Species richness data from the literature are plotted against the sampled area. To allow comparison with the current study, studies that sampled 8 or more m−2 were not included. References for the abundance and species richness meta-analysis are listed in Additional file 1