Spatial and temporal variance of invertebrate grazers in response to climatic stresses and food availability at different spatial scales on coastal rocky shores

拟议的研究项目旨在调查在澳大利亚新南威尔士州的岩石潮间带群落中观察到的空间和时间变化的原因。不同的无脊椎食草动物主宰着这些潮间带群落：一般来说，蜗牛和帽贝在遮蔽的海岸上，藤壶和帽贝在暴露的海岸上。将进行食物丰富度（微藻）、地形、波浪和阳光方向的实验操作。与此同时，将测量无脊椎食草动物的丰度，并记录温度、水流和波浪。所有实验和测量将在不同波浪暴露的海岸进行（暴露和遮蔽海岸），每个在三个不同的空间尺度（cm -cm的10 s; m -m的10 s; km - 10s of km）然后，将对通过该实验获得的复杂数据进行统计处理，以解释观察到的模式，并建立环境因素和观察到的无脊椎食草动物的空间分布和时间变化。

The proposed research project aims to investigate the causes of spatial and temporal variations observed in rocky intertidal communities in New South Wales (Australia). Different invertebrate grazers dominate these intertidal communities: generally, snails and limpets on sheltered shores and barnacles together with limpets on exposed shores.Experimental manipulations of food abundance (micro-algae), topography, orientation of waves and sun will be carried out. In parallel, the abundance of invertebrate grazers will be measured and temperature, water flow and waves will be recorded. All experiments and measurements will be conducted at shores with different wave exposure (exposed and sheltered shores), each at three different spatial scales (cm - 10s of cm; m - 10s of m; km - 10s of km) in summer and in winter.The complex data obtained through this experimentation will then be treated statistically in order to explain the observed patterns and to establish relationships between the environmental factors and the observed spatial distribution of and temporal variations in invertebrate grazers.