How recruitment, intraspecific interactions, and predation control species borders in a tidal estuary

被引:36
作者
Leonard, GH [1 ]
Ewanchuk, PJ
Bertness, MD
机构
[1] Brown Univ, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Providence, RI 02912 USA
[2] Stanford Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Hopkins Marine Stn, Pacific Grove, CA 93950 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会; 美国安德鲁·梅隆基金会;
关键词
density-dependent foraging; flow-mediated recruitment; New England rocky intertidal zone; positive interactions; species borders;
D O I
10.1007/s004420050752
中图分类号
Q14 [生态学(生物生态学)];
学科分类号
071012 ; 0713 ;
摘要
We examined the relative contribution of recruitment, intraspecific species interactions, and predation in controlling the upper intertidal border of the northern acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides, in a tidal estuary in Maine. We hypothesized that the contracted border at sites that experienced low tidal currents was due to flow-medisted recruitment that resulted in reduced survival due to the absence of neighbor buffering of thermal stress (i.e., positive intraspecific interactions). We tested this hypothesis by manipulating the density of recently settled barnacles and their thermal environment in a field experiment. Counter to our original hypothesis, barnacles with neighbors suffered severe mortality at low-flow sites. When density-dependent predation by the green crab (Carcinus maenus) was experimentally eliminated, however, we did detect evidence for positive interactions at the low-flow sites but not at the high-how sites. In spite of the close proximity of the sites, maximum daily rock temperatures at the low-flow sites were slightly, but consistently, greater than those at high-flow sites. Our findings suggest that the upper intertidal border of S. balanoides in the Damariscotta River is limited at low-flow sites by a combination of reduced recruitment, elevated mortality from thermal stress and enhanced predation by green crabs. More generally, oar findings highlight how physical stress and predation interact to alter the nature of density-dependent species interactions in natural assemblages.
引用
收藏
页码:492 / 502
页数:11
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