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Article: Primary succession on a seasonal tropical rocky shore: The relative roles of spatial heterogeneity and herbivory

TitlePrimary succession on a seasonal tropical rocky shore: The relative roles of spatial heterogeneity and herbivory
Authors
KeywordsBiofilm
Cyanobacteria
Herbivory
Hong Kong
Mucus
Spatial heterogeneity
Succession
Tropical rocky shore
Issue Date2000
PublisherInter-Research. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/index.html
Citation
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2000, v. 203, p. 81-94 How to Cite?
AbstractHong Kong is within the tropics and has a seasonal climate. In winter, shores support patches of ephemeral macroalgae and areas of seemingly bare rock close to crevices where molluscan herbivores are abundant. Using a factorial design of herbivore exclusions in areas far and close to crevices, the development of algal assemblages was monitored in mid-shore, cleared areas, in winter. To estimate the role of herbivore mucus deposition, half the treatments received a mucus application. Algal development was estimated from macroalgal and biofilm development and chlorophyll a levels. In all areas, biofilms (diatoms, unicellular cyanobacteria) developed rapidly in herbivore exclusions followed by ephemeral macroalgae (Enteromorpha spp. and Porphyra suborbiculata). In herbivore access treatments, however, the algal assemblage was influenced by treatment location; few macroalgae developed in areas close to crevices, and the rock was dominated by cyanobacteria. A negative relationship between macroalgae and biofilms suggested that ephemeral algae were competitively dominant. In areas distant from herbivore refuges, ephemeral macroalgae did develop, illustrating that the effectiveness of molluscan herbivores was limited to 50 to 100 cm from these refuges. The absence of large herbivorous fish, and the sparse numbers of herbivorous crabs at this site, means that algae can achieve a spatial escape from consumption, and where this occurs competition between producers is important in assemblage development. Mucus appeared to play a limited role, only sometimes stimulating initial stages of unicellular cyanobacteria and macroalgae. With the onset of summer, macroalgae died back, and rock space became available for colonization. Unicellular cyanobacteria developed rapidly but were replaced in all treatments by the encrusting macroalga, Hapalospongidion gelatinosum, which dominated treatments until the end of the experiment. On seasonal, tropical shores processes influencing community structure can, therefore, be temporally variable and their relative importance, even at the same shore level, can change with season.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/57257
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 2.2
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.802
ISI Accession Number ID
References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorWilliams, GAen_HK
dc.contributor.authorDavies, MSen_HK
dc.contributor.authorNagarkar, Sen_HK
dc.date.accessioned2010-04-12T01:31:03Z-
dc.date.available2010-04-12T01:31:03Z-
dc.date.issued2000en_HK
dc.identifier.citationMarine Ecology Progress Series, 2000, v. 203, p. 81-94en_HK
dc.identifier.issn0171-8630en_HK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/57257-
dc.description.abstractHong Kong is within the tropics and has a seasonal climate. In winter, shores support patches of ephemeral macroalgae and areas of seemingly bare rock close to crevices where molluscan herbivores are abundant. Using a factorial design of herbivore exclusions in areas far and close to crevices, the development of algal assemblages was monitored in mid-shore, cleared areas, in winter. To estimate the role of herbivore mucus deposition, half the treatments received a mucus application. Algal development was estimated from macroalgal and biofilm development and chlorophyll a levels. In all areas, biofilms (diatoms, unicellular cyanobacteria) developed rapidly in herbivore exclusions followed by ephemeral macroalgae (Enteromorpha spp. and Porphyra suborbiculata). In herbivore access treatments, however, the algal assemblage was influenced by treatment location; few macroalgae developed in areas close to crevices, and the rock was dominated by cyanobacteria. A negative relationship between macroalgae and biofilms suggested that ephemeral algae were competitively dominant. In areas distant from herbivore refuges, ephemeral macroalgae did develop, illustrating that the effectiveness of molluscan herbivores was limited to 50 to 100 cm from these refuges. The absence of large herbivorous fish, and the sparse numbers of herbivorous crabs at this site, means that algae can achieve a spatial escape from consumption, and where this occurs competition between producers is important in assemblage development. Mucus appeared to play a limited role, only sometimes stimulating initial stages of unicellular cyanobacteria and macroalgae. With the onset of summer, macroalgae died back, and rock space became available for colonization. Unicellular cyanobacteria developed rapidly but were replaced in all treatments by the encrusting macroalga, Hapalospongidion gelatinosum, which dominated treatments until the end of the experiment. On seasonal, tropical shores processes influencing community structure can, therefore, be temporally variable and their relative importance, even at the same shore level, can change with season.en_HK
dc.languageengen_HK
dc.publisherInter-Research. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/index.htmlen_HK
dc.relation.ispartofMarine Ecology Progress Seriesen_HK
dc.rightsMarine Ecology - Progress Series. Copyright © Inter-Research.en_HK
dc.subjectBiofilmen_HK
dc.subjectCyanobacteriaen_HK
dc.subjectHerbivoryen_HK
dc.subjectHong Kongen_HK
dc.subjectMucusen_HK
dc.subjectSpatial heterogeneityen_HK
dc.subjectSuccessionen_HK
dc.subjectTropical rocky shoreen_HK
dc.titlePrimary succession on a seasonal tropical rocky shore: The relative roles of spatial heterogeneity and herbivoryen_HK
dc.typeArticleen_HK
dc.identifier.openurlhttp://library.hku.hk:4550/resserv?sid=HKU:IR&issn=0171-8630&volume=203&spage=81&epage=94&date=2000&atitle=Primary+succession+on+a+seasonal+tropical+rocky+shore:+the+relative+roles+of+spatial+heterogeneity+and+herbivoryen_HK
dc.identifier.emailWilliams, GA: hrsbwga@hkucc.hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.authorityWilliams, GA=rp00804en_HK
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_versionen_HK
dc.identifier.doi10.3354/meps203081en_HK
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-0034683614en_HK
dc.identifier.hkuros56014-
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-0034683614&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_HK
dc.identifier.volume203en_HK
dc.identifier.spage81en_HK
dc.identifier.epage94en_HK
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000089661100006-
dc.publisher.placeGermanyen_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridWilliams, GA=7406082821en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridDavies, MS=35121268800en_HK
dc.identifier.scopusauthoridNagarkar, S=6602572935en_HK
dc.identifier.issnl0171-8630-

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