Table 4. Results of DISTLM procedure for fitting macrophyte cover biometrics to macrobenthic community characteristics for samples collected in vegetated sediments.

Marginal tests			Sequential tests
variable	psF	R2	variable	psF	R2	cumR2
MACROFAUNA DENSITY
algal biomass	1.6	0.03	algal biomass	1.6	0.03	0.03
seagr. shoot density	0.1	0.00	seagr. shoot density	3.5	0.07	0.10
seagr. ab. ground biomass	0.0	0.02
total macrophyte biomass	0.1	0.00
algal species richness	1.0	0.02
MACROFAUNA BIOMASS
algal biomass	8.8*	0.16	algal biomass	8.8*	0.16	0.16
seagr. shoot density	3.5	0.07	seagr. shoot density	1.4	0.02	0.18
seagr. ab. ground biomass	5.5*	0.10
total macrophyte biomass	5.5*	0.10
algal species richness	6.7*	0.12
MACROFAUNA SPECIES RICHNESS
algal biomass	3.4	0.07	seagr. ab. ground biomass	10.5*	0.18	0.18
seagr. shoot density	3.8	0.07	algal species richness	2.9	0.05	0.23
seagr. ab. ground biomass	10.5*	0.18	total macrophyte biomass	1.3	0.02	0.25
total macrophyte biomass	5.9*	0.11	algal biomass	1.5	0.02	0.27
algal species richness	1.2	0.02
MACROFAUNA COMPOSITION
algal biomass	5.0**	0.09	seagr. ab. ground biomass	5.1**	0.10	0.10
seagr. shoot density	4.5**	0.08	algal biomass	4.3**	0.07	0.17
seagr. ab. ground biomass	5.1**	0.10	algal species richness	1.3	0.02	0.19
total macrophyte biomass	4.5**	0.09	total macrophyte biomass	1.2	0.03	0.22
algal species richness	4.6**	0.09

Macrofauna analysed in terms of density, biomass, species richness and species composition (based on double root transformed species abundances in samples data). Macrophyte cover biometrics include total macrophyte biomass, algal biomass, algal species richness, seagrass shoot density (seagr. shoot density) and seagrass above ground biomass (seagr. ab. ground biomass). Significant effects: * P<0.05, **P<0.001.