Community Organization in a Rocky Intertidal Zone

本研究考察了一个以褐藻冠层、甲壳藻和关节珊瑚藻铺装为特征的沿海海洋群落的结构和生态组织。后者的存在与丰富的无脊椎食草动物有关。一个监测程序将估计整个组合的变化特征，并将启动实验来研究群落复杂性如何影响分类群之间的相互作用。具体的问题将包括：(1)多品种竞争的复杂性是否会产生不同于成对实验预测的结果？(2)结壳是否抑制褐藻孢子的补充？(3)添加草食动物是否会抑制或增强藻类的招募。这些实验和他们的措施将涉及物种相互作用强度，在复杂系统的生态学；食物网理论中被忽视的一个方面。

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.