Experimental Development of an Intertidal Interaction Web

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P.I. : PAINE, ROBERT T. Proposal #: 95- 30153 PROPOSAL ABSTRACT All natural communities are organized in the sense that the species within them interact with one another. When the strengths and rates of interaction are known, understanding the forces that regulate community structure can be estimated. These estimates are useful for modelling the predictability of biological changes due to natural processes and anthropogenic impacts. Such knowledge is basic to food web theory and many conservation issues. The proposed research will examine four kinds of experiments to explore the importance of a major predator (the starfish Pisaster) when excluded and when introduced in rocky intertidal habitats. In addition, long-term (ca. 25-y) monitoring routines will be continued. These studies will supply information on inter-annual variation in the abundance of a suite of grazers, in the disturbance factors effecting mussel beds, and in the intensity of barnacle recruitment.