Functional Diversity and Traits Assembly Patterns of Benthic Macrofaunal Communities in the Southern North Sea - Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach in Earth System Science - page 173

Table 1 Traits and their
modalities used to assess
functional composition

Traits Modalities

Feeding habit Surface deposit feeder

Sub-surface deposit feeder
Suspension feeder
Interface feeder
Predator
Sand licker
Grazer
Parasite

Environmental position Epifauna

Infauna
Epizoic

Adult movement Swimmer

Crawler
Burrower
Sessile

Diet type Omnivore

Carnivore
Herbivore

Larval development Direct

Lecithotrophic
Planktotrophic

Sexual differentiation Gonochoric

Synchronous
hermaphrodite
Sequential hermaphrodite

Adult longevity (years) <1

1 - 2
3 10

10+

-

Age at maturity (years) <1

1 2

-

3 4

4+

-

Fecundity 1 10

-

10 100

100 - 1,000
100 - 10,000
10,000

-

1m

-

1m+

(continued)