Community Organization in a Rocky Intertidal Zone

这项研究调查了一个沿海海洋群落的结构和生态组织，其特征是棕色的藻类冠层，以及明显的壳质和关节珊瑚藻类铺面。后者的存在与丰富的无脊椎动物食草动物组合有关。一项监测计划将评估整个群落的变异特征，并将启动实验，以研究群落复杂性如何影响分类群之间的相互作用。解决的具体问题包括：(1)多物种竞争的复杂性是否会产生与配对实验预测的结果不同的结果？(2)结壳是否会抑制褐藻孢子的招募？以及(3)添加草食动物是否会抑制或增强藻类的补充。这些实验及其措施将与复杂系统生态中的物种相互作用强度有关；这是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.