Community Organization in a Rocky Intertidal Zone

本研究探讨了结构和生态 沿海海洋生物组合的组织，其特征是 棕色的海藻树冠，和一个明显的路面的甲壳和 有节珊瑚藻类。 后者的存在是 与丰富的无脊椎食草动物混合在一起。 一 监测程序将估计变化特征 整个装配和实验将启动， 研究社区复杂性如何影响 分类群 具体问题包括：（1） 多物种竞争复杂性产生了一个结果 与配对实验预测的结果不同吗？ (2)做 结壳抑制了褐藻孢子的补充？ （3） 食草动物的加入会抑制还是增强藻类 招聘 这些实验及其措施将与 在复杂的生态系统中， 食物网理论的一个被忽视的方面。

This research investigates the structure and ecological organization of a coastal marine assemblage characterized by a brown algal canopy, and a conspicuous pavement of crustose and articulated coralline algae. The presence of the latter is associated with a rich mix of invertebrate grazers. A monitoring program will estimate the variation characteristics of the entire assemblage and experiments will be initiated to examine how community complexity effects interactions among taxa. Specific questions addressed will include, (1) does the complexity of multispecific competition generate an outcome different from that predicted by pair-wise experiments? (2) Do crusts inhibit recruitment of brown algal sporelings? And (3) will herbivore addition inhibit, or enhance, algal recruitment. These experiments and their measures will relate to species interaction strength, in the ecology of complex systems; a neglected aspect of food web theory.