Alternative Stable States on Rocky Intertidal Shores

小行星9529564 这项提案的目标是确定生态机制，保持立场的藻类和贻贝和藤壶在缅因州湾独特的，自我维持的社区。 贻贝，藤壶和大型藻类是最常见的物种在岩石潮间带海岸的庇护海湾。 作为海岸自然群落的主要结构组成部分，这些物种是许多鱼类和无脊椎动物的家园。岩藻群落和贻贝、藤壶群落是截然不同的，很少重叠，即使它们在海岸占据非常相似的位置。 目前，人们认为， 生态过程中的地方性差异 如捕食、竞争和补充，控制着这两个群落的物种组成。 这个研究项目将测试这样一个想法，即藻类群落和贻贝藤壶床的起源是历史事件，一旦建立，这两个独特的群落就由各自内部的正反馈机制维持。 因此，当地特定地点的差异是正反馈的结果，而不是社区差异的原因。 在生态学中，这种想法通常被称为“替代稳定状态”。" 该项目将是这一想法在沿海海洋生态系统中的首次大规模试验。

9529564 Petraitis The goal of this proposal is to determine the ecological mechanisms that maintain stands of algae and beds of mussels and barnacles in the Gulf of Maine as distinct, self-sustaining communities. Mussels, barnacles, and macroalgae are the most common species on the rocky intertidal shores of sheltered bays. As the major structural components of the natural communities that line the shore, these species are the home for many species of fish and invertebrates. Stands of rockweed and beds of mussels and barnacles are distinct and rarely overlap even though they occupy very similar places on the shore. Currently, it is thought that local site-specific differences in ecological processes such as predation, competition, and recruitment, control the species composition of these two communities. This research project will test the idea that the origins of algal stands and mussel-barnacle beds are historical events and that once established, the two distinctive communities are maintained by positive-feedback mechanisms within each. Thus local site- specific differences are the result of positive-feedbacks and not the cause of community differences. In ecology, this idea is generally known as "alternative stable states." This project will be the first large-scale test of this idea in a coastal marine ecosystem.