scholarly journals Exploitation of rocky intertidal grazers: population status and potential impacts on community structure and functioning

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Martins ◽  
SR Jenkins ◽  
SJ Hawkins ◽  
AI Neto ◽  
RC Thompson
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Catalán ◽  
Nelson Valdivia ◽  
Ricardo Scrosati

In rocky intertidal environments, the vertical gradient of abiotic stress generates, directly or indirectly, significant spatial variation in community structure. Along shorelines within biogeographic regions, abiotic changes also generate horizontal biological variation, which when measured at large sampling intervals may surpass vertical biological variation. Little is known, however, on how vertical variation compares with horizontal variation measured at multiple spatial scales in habitats with similar environmental conditions. Here, we compare spatial variability in rocky-intertidal communities between vertical stress gradients and three horizontal spatial scales (sampling interval) across habitats experiencing the same wave exposure on the Northwest Atlantic (NWA) and Southeast Pacific (SEP) coasts. For both regions, the vertical variation in species richness and composition (Raup-Crick and Bray-Curtis indices) was higher than the variation measured at all horizontal scales, from a few cm to hundreds of km. The patterns of variation in community structure matched those of abundance for the dominant sessile organisms, the foundation species Ascophyllum nodosum (seaweed) in NWA and Perumytilus purpuratus (mussel) in SEP. This interhemispheric comparison reveals the tight link between environmental and biological variation, indicating that studies comparing spatial scales of biological variation must consider the underlying environmental variation in addition to simply scale alone.


Author(s):  
Dandi Saleky ◽  
Simon P.O Leatemia ◽  
Yuanike Yuanike ◽  
Irman Rumengan ◽  
I Nyoman Giri Putra

Gastropods is an important organism that commonly found inhabiting the rocky intertidal area. Distribution pattern of this species is influenced by various factors such as population history, microhabitat, predation and a complex interactions between oceanographic dynamics and ecological features. This study aims to compare the temporal distribution pattern of gastropods at two different rocky intertidal area. This research was conducted at the rocky intertidal area of Amban and Nuni, North Manokwari District, West Papua. Data collection was performed during the daylight and night in April and June 2012 using systematic sampling method. The results showed that both physical and chemical factors are suite for supporting gastropods life. Furthermore, these factors seem to have an impact on gastropod zoning patterns observed in the study area. The similarity index values ​​indicate that the similarity of gastropod species between the two locations is low, which means that the species of gastropods found in each location is quite different. The community structure of gastropod at the study area is stable. In addition, we found that the gastropods diversity were higher during the night than the daylight because gastropods are classified as a nocturnal animals. Key Words: Gastropod; Rocky Intertidal; Community Structure; Nocturnal


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Catalán ◽  
Nelson Valdivia ◽  
Ricardo Scrosati

In rocky intertidal environments, the vertical gradient of abiotic stress generates, directly or indirectly, significant spatial variation in community structure. Along shorelines within biogeographic regions, abiotic changes also generate horizontal biological variation, which when measured at large sampling intervals may surpass vertical biological variation. Little is known, however, on how vertical variation compares with horizontal variation measured at multiple spatial scales in habitats with similar environmental conditions. Here, we compare spatial variability in rocky-intertidal communities between vertical stress gradients and three horizontal spatial scales (sampling interval) across habitats experiencing the same wave exposure on the Northwest Atlantic (NWA) and Southeast Pacific (SEP) coasts. For both regions, the vertical variation in species richness and composition (Raup-Crick and Bray-Curtis indices) was higher than the variation measured at all horizontal scales, from a few cm to hundreds of km. The patterns of variation in community structure matched those of abundance for the dominant sessile organisms, the foundation species Ascophyllum nodosum (seaweed) in NWA and Perumytilus purpuratus (mussel) in SEP. This interhemispheric comparison reveals the tight link between environmental and biological variation, indicating that studies comparing spatial scales of biological variation must consider the underlying environmental variation in addition to simply scale alone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Weitzman ◽  
Brenda Konar ◽  
Katrin Iken ◽  
Heather Coletti ◽  
Daniel Monson ◽  
...  

Marine heatwaves are global phenomena that can have major impacts on the structure and function of coastal ecosystems. By mid-2014, the Pacific Marine Heatwave (PMH) was evident in intertidal waters of the northern Gulf of Alaska and persisted for multiple years. While offshore marine ecosystems are known to respond to these warmer waters, the response of rocky intertidal ecosystems to this warming is unclear. Intertidal communities link terrestrial and marine ecosystems and their resources are important to marine and terrestrial predators and to human communities for food and recreation, while simultaneously supporting a growing coastal tourism industry. Given that current climate change projections suggest increased frequency and duration of marine heatwaves, monitoring and understanding the impacts of heatwaves on intertidal habitats is important. As part of the Gulf Watch Alaska Long-Term Monitoring program, we examined rocky intertidal community structure at 21 sites across four regions spanning 1,200 km of coastline: Western Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kachemak Bay, and Katmai National Park and Preserve. Sites were monitored annually from 2012 to 2019 at mid and low tidal strata. Before-PMH (2012–2014), community structure differed among regions. We found macroalgal foundation species declined during this period mirroring patterns observed elsewhere for subtidal habitat formers during heatwave events. The region-wide shift from an autotroph-macroalgal dominated rocky intertidal to a heterotroph-filter-feeder dominated state concurrent with the changing environmental conditions associated with a marine heatwave event suggests the PMH had Gulf-wide impacts to the structure of rocky intertidal communities. During/after-PMH (2015–2019), similarities in community structure increased across regions, leading to a greater homogenization of these communities, due to declines in macroalgal cover, driven mostly by a decline in the rockweed, Fucus distichus, and other fleshy red algae in 2015, followed by an increase in barnacle cover in 2016, and an increase in mussel cover in 2017. Strong, large-scale oceanographic events, like the PMH, may override local drivers to similarly influence patterns of intertidal community structure.


1982 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Estes ◽  
Ronald J. Jameson ◽  
Elaine B. Rhode

1997 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Menge ◽  
Bryon A. Daley ◽  
Patricia A. Wheeler ◽  
P. Ted Strub

2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo M. Martins ◽  
André F. Amaral ◽  
Francisco M. Wallenstein ◽  
Ana I. Neto

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document