Effect of patchsize on communities of sessile invertebrates in Gulf St Vincent, South Australia

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(91)90229-P

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Volume 153, Issue 2, 27 November 1991, Pages 255-280

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(91)90229-P Get rights and content

Abstract

A qualitative model had earlier been proposed to explained why “good competitors that are poor recruiters” (GC) are more abundant in the sessile assemblages on large substrata than “Poor competitors that are good recruiters” (PC), the PC being relatively more abundant on small isolated patches of substratum. One consequence of this model was that the composition of the fauna, and nature of differences between patch sizes, would vary with larval recruitment rates.

In this study, sessile fauna were recorded on shells of the bivalve Pinna and on pier pillings at three sites, and an experiment on colonization of plates of five size was done at two sites, chosen from earlier work to have different recruitment rates.

In the compasition of Pinna and pilings, predictions were confirmed for colonial ascidians, bryozoans, the lumped groups PC (bryozoans, tuberworms and barnacle) and “very poor competitors” (tubeworm and barnacles), partially for GC, but not for sponges. In the case of colonial ascidians and GC, the proposed mechanism did not fully explain the results.

In the plate experiment, predictions were confirmed for ascidians, PC baranacles and tubeworms, partially for GC but not for sponges or bryozoans.

Over the timescale of the experiment, the effect of heavy recruitment of PC was more important than their subsequent dominance by GC. It is suggested that with more time the effect postulated in the model would have become clearer, but also that it would have required very much greater resources to make a more effective test of the model underlying this work, which involves complex population structures and spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal variation. Meanwhile, the study raises questions worthy of study at smaller scale; these concern the population structure and dynamics of particular species, and the responses of major animal groups to variations in food and physical conditions.

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Disturbance and patch dynamics of subtidal marine animals on hard substrata

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The growth and form of modular organisms

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London

(1986)

Cited by (35)

Palaeoecology and evolution of marine hard substrate communities
2003, Earth-Science Reviews
Citation Excerpt :
Differential larval recruitment was found to be more important in determining species distributions than the physical factors acting upon either larvae or adults. Butler's (1991) work on sessile invertebrates colonising Pinna shells, pier pilings and settlement panels in South Australia showed that communities were structured more by the heavy recruitment of poor competitors than by subsequent dominance of substrate space by good competitors. The enormous variability in rates of recruitment (e.g., Yoshioka, 1986) are at least partly responsible for the heterogeneity or patchiness characteristic of many hard substrate communities.
Marine organisms have occupied hard substrates since the Archaean. Shells, rocks, wood and sedimentary hardgrounds offer relatively stable habitats compared to unconsolidated sediments, but the plants and animals which inhabit them must develop means to gain and defend this premium attachment space. Hard substrate communities are formed by organisms with a variety of strategies for adhering to and/or excavating the substrates they inhabit. While mobile grazers, organically attached and even soft-bodied organisms may leave evidence of their former presence in ancient hard substrate communities, a superior fossil record is left by sessile encrusters with mineralised skeletons and by borers which leave trace fossils. Furthermore, encrusters and borers are preserved in situ, retaining their spatial relationships to one another and to the substrate. Spatial competition, ecological succession, oriented growth, and differential utilisation of exposed vs. hidden substrate surfaces can all be observed or inferred. Hard substrate communities are thus excellent systems with which to study community evolution over hundreds of millions of years. Here we review the research on modern and ancient hard substrate communities, and point to some changes that have affected them over geological time scales. Such changes include a general increase in bioerosion of hard substrates, particularly carbonate surfaces, through the Phanerozoic. This is, at least in part, analogous to the infaunalisation trends seen in soft substrate communities. Encrusting forms show an increase in skeletalisation from the Palaeozoic into the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, which may be a response to increasing levels of predation. Hard substrate communities, considering borers and encrusters together, show a rough increase in tiering through the Phanerozoic which again parallels trends seen in soft substrate communities.
This extensive review of the literature on living and fossil hard substrate organisms shows that many opportunities remain for large-scale studies of trends through time at the community and clade levels. Palaeontologists will especially benefit by closer integration of their work with that of neontologists, particularly in aspects of ecology such as larval recruitment, competition and succession.
Role of colonization in spatio-temporal patchiness of microgastropods in coralline turf habitat
2002, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
The ability of benthic macrofauna to disperse and colonize new habitats throughout their life may contribute substantially to small-scale patchiness in abundances in different habitats. Microgastropods in coralline turf on rocky shores in Australia are very patchy in abundance at different spatio-temporal scales. They therefore represent an ideal assemblage for testing hypotheses about processes of colonization. Patterns and rates of colonization of 10 species of microgastropods were investigated in one intertidal habitat (coralline turf) in Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia, using artificial substrata, which are considered to be a good mimic of natural coralline turfs. The experiment was designed to test the hypotheses that (1) patterns (abundance of colonizing individuals) and mode (juveniles vs. adults) of colonization depends on the proximity of a patch to a potential source of dispersing colonists (i.e. patch of natural coralline turf), (2) different species show different rates of colonization, and (3) patterns of succession are not repeatable among different patches of natural algae. Seven different plots (natural patches of coralline turf) were randomly chosen in the area of study. Artificial units (called patches) were placed at different distances around each plot (within the plot and 0, 50 or 100 cm away from the edge). Samples were collected 6, 13, and 27 days after the experiment started. Colonization was rapid (i.e. within 6 days) for most species. Pattern (number of individuals) and mode of colonization (adults vs. juveniles) varied among algal plots. Most species responded differently across patches causing no consistent patterns of colonization. Furthermore, patterns of colonization of artificial units were not always synchronous with, or in the same direction as, changes in abundances in the nearest algal plots, which themselves showed no consistent spatio-temporal pattern.
Patches of the ascidian Pyura stolonifera (Heller, 1878): Structure of habitat and associated intertidal assemblages
2002, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Beds of the ascidian Pyura stolonifera on rocky shores around Sydney, Australia, provide an important habitat for many organisms, such as algae, chitons, limpets and snails. Fishermen collect Pyura for bait, which can change the structure of those beds. This may, in turn, cause changes in their associated biota. To predict the effects of such disturbances, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the structure of the habitat provided by beds of Pyura and their associated assemblages. Beds of Pyura can provide two types of habitat: Clumped, with >50% cover of closely packed individuals or Sparse, with <50% cover, where individuals are mostly isolated from contact with others. The spaces amongst the Pyura can be bare rock or rock covered by numerous species of algae and sessile animals. Nineteen algal species and 45 species of animals were identified in the field in Clumped and Sparse habitats. Assemblages differed significantly between patches of Clumped and Sparse habitat and much of the difference was attributable to relatively few species. In addition, a number of species of algae and animals live on the surface of the Pyura themselves. Eighty-four taxa were found at the scale of individual Pyura, many of which were relatively small and cryptic. Organisms on Pyura differed between individual ascidians that were isolated from other Pyura (i.e. a more common situation in Sparse habitat) and those that were surrounded by and in contact with other Pyura (i.e. more common in Clumped habitat). These differences were mostly attributed to a few families of small molluscs. It appears that changes in the structure of beds of Pyura have the potential to make significant alterations to intertidal assemblages at the scale of individual Pyura and at the scale of the habitats formed by beds of Pyura.
Surface composition and orientation interact to affect subtidal epibiota
2000, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Settlement panels were used to evaluate the effects of composition of the substratum (sandstone, concrete, wood) and orientation (vertical, horizontal undersides) on subtidal epibiota. It was predicted that both factors would influence the development of epibiotic assemblages, but that differences due to composition would be less marked on horizontal undersides compared to vertical panels. Differences in assemblages among sandstone, concrete and wooden panels orientated vertically were predicted to be similar to those described previously among vertical surfaces of sandstone rocky reefs and concrete and wooden urban structures (pilings and pontoons). Multivariate analyses indicated that assemblages were influenced greatly by orientation, whereas the effects of surface composition differed for the two orientations and among sites. Assemblages on wood were always significantly different from those on sandstone or concrete — patterns between the latter two surfaces depended on the orientation of the panels. The taxa that dominated these surfaces were not similar in identity nor abundance to those on urban structures of the same composition. The covers of most taxa were influenced by orientation alone or by surface composition for just one orientation. This study demonstrates the need for caution in generalizing about effects of orientation and surface composition because they may interact with each other and/or with other factors and they are certainly quite different for different taxa and among sites.
Floating pontoons create novel habitats for subtidal epibiota
2000, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Urban structures in the form of pontoons and pilings represent major coastal habitats for marine organisms and understanding the factors causing abundances of organisms to differ between these and natural habitat has been neglected in the study of coastal ecology. It has been proposed that composition of substrata explain differences previously described between subtidal assemblages of epibiota on rocky reef (sandstone) and pontoons (concrete) in Sydney Harbour, Australia. This study tested the hypothesis that differences in the composition of substratum (sandstone vs. concrete) independent of type of habitat (rocky reef vs. pontoon) affects the development of epibiotic assemblages. This was tested by experimentally providing substratum of the two types in both habitats. Epibiotic assemblages were unaffected by the composition of substratum but strongly affected by the type of habitat; demonstrating that pontoons constitute novel habitats for epibiota. This result highlights a need for determining how current ecological understanding of subtidal epibiota, which is heavily based on studies of urban structures (pilings and pontoons), relates to natural reef. Future tests of hypotheses about the nature of these differences will not only contribute to better ecological understanding of epibiota and their use of urban structures as habitats, but also to better predictions of future changes to the ecology of coastal habitats.
Do urban structures influence local abundance and diversity of subtidal epibiota? A case study from Sydney Harbour, Australia
1999, Marine Environmental Research
In an age when human modification of natural substrata is increasingly cited as an agent of population decline and extinction, understanding the role of artificial surfaces as surrogate habitats for natural surfaces is critical. It has been predicted that the addition of new habitats to an area can lead to increases in species abundance and diversity. We tested this hypothesis by contrasting assemblages of subtidal epibiota on natural reef and six common urban surfaces in Sydney Harbour, Australia. All surfaces were in shallow water and consisted of rocky reef, sandstone (brick) retaining walls, fibreglass and concrete pontoons, concrete pilings and wooden pilings with bark and stripped of bark. Assemblages of epibiota on sandstone surfaces (natural rocky reefs and sandstone retaining walls) differed from non-sandstone surfaces. The major distinguishing features of sandstone surfaces were the large cover of coralline algae and small number of taxa. Assemblages on pilings and pontoons were most different from those on sandstone surfaces and relatively similar to each other. There were, however, some differences which seemed to be consistent with features such as type of surface (concrete vs wood) and arrangement of surface (floating pontoons vs fixed pilings). We suggest that artificial structures may increase the abundance and diversity of subtidal epibiota in the shallow areas of an estuary, but are not surrogate surfaces for epibiotic assemblages that occur on nearby natural rock. It would appear that urbanisation of estuarine habitats has consequences for the identity, diversity and abundance of subtidal epibiota.

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Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Abstract

References (23)

Recruitment of sessile invertebrates at five sites in Gulf St Vincent, South Australia

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Metapopulation dynamics: does it help to have more of the same?

Trends. Ecol., Evol.

Patterns of recruitment of sessile invertebrates in two subtidal habitats

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

The genetics of transient populations: research at the metapopulation level

Trends Ecol. Evol.

The ecological web: more on the distribution and abundance of animals

Ecology of Pinna bicolor Gmelin (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in Gulf St Vincent, South Australia: density, reproductive cycle, recruitment, growth and mortality at three sites

Aust. J. Mar. Freshwater Res.

Size distributions and growth of the fan-shell Pinna bicolor Gmelin (Mollusca: Eulamellibranchia) in South Australia

Aust. J. Mar. Freshwater Res.

Ecology of sessile animals on sublittoral hard subtrata: the need to measure variation

Aust. J. Ecol.

Distribution of Pinna bicolor Gmelin (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in South Australia, with observations on recruitment

Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust.

Disturbance and patch dynamics of subtidal marine animals on hard substrata

The growth and form of modular organisms

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London

Cited by (35)

Palaeoecology and evolution of marine hard substrate communities

Role of colonization in spatio-temporal patchiness of microgastropods in coralline turf habitat

Patches of the ascidian Pyura stolonifera (Heller, 1878): Structure of habitat and associated intertidal assemblages

Surface composition and orientation interact to affect subtidal epibiota

Floating pontoons create novel habitats for subtidal epibiota

Do urban structures influence local abundance and diversity of subtidal epibiota? A case study from Sydney Harbour, Australia