REU: Community Ecology of the Rocky Subtidal Zone: An Integrated Life-History Approach

温带海岸的岩石潮下带具有复杂的地形和同样异质的海藻和无脊椎动物分布的特点。对马萨诸塞州北部潮下岩壁的长期研究(1987-1988)提出并验证了关于这种底质上群落结构的长期稳定性和短期调节的假说。以前的研究主要集中在岩壁上物种之间的相互作用，少数优势物种的种群生物学，以及水分运动对个体、种群和群落过程的影响。目前这项研究将扩展长期研究，包括详细分析附近岩壁上的分离种群，以及与竞争物种接触的种群。将建立潮下岩壁群落的数学模型。关于幼虫扩散和招募在该系统中的作用，以及它对维持无脊椎动物种群斑块的影响，需要新的信息。显然，幼虫的传播有三个水平(邻近的、本地的、区域的)，它们影响种群动态，从而影响群落结构。将结合实地研究、实验室调查和大尺度水流模式的模拟来研究这些问题，并将结果纳入现实的社区模型中。

The rocky subtidal zone of temperate coasts is characterized by complex topography and equally heterogeneous distributions of marine algae and invertebrates. Long-term studies of subtidal rock walls (1987-1988) in Northern Massachusetts have produced and tested hypotheses concerning the long-term stability and short-term regulation of community structure on such substrata. Previous studies have focused on the interactions between species on rock walls, on the population biology of a few dominant species, and on the effects of water movement on individual, population, and community processes. The present this research will extend the long-term studies including a detailed analysis of separated population on nearby rock walls, and populations in contact with competing species. A mathematical model of the subtidal rock wall community will be developed. New information is needed on the role of larval dispersal and recruitment in this system, and its influence on the maintenance of patchiness of invertebrated populations. There are clearly three levels of larval dispersal (adjacent, local, regional) that affect population dynamics and thus community structure. These will be investigated using a combination of field studies, laboratory investigations, and modelling of large scale flow patterns and to incorporate the results into a realistic community model.