A preliminary investigation of diversity, abundance, and distributional patterns of chitons in intertidal boulder fields of differing rock type in South Australia

Liversage, Kiran; Benkendorff, Kirsten

doi:10.1080/13235818.2012.754145

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In many regions, coastal boulder habitats harbour a particularly great diversity of species including many habitat specialists (Le Hir and Hily, 2005;Chapman, 2011;Liversage and Benkendorff, 2013). From the results of this study and those of Grzelak and Kuklinski (2010) and Wallin et al (2011), it appears that there are no boulder habitat specialists in the species depauperate regions of the Baltic Sea (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Disturbance-related patterns in unstable rocky benthic habitats of the north-eastern Baltic coast

Liversage¹,

Kotta²

2015

Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci.

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Abstract. Distinct patterns of benthic flora and fauna are produced when unstable rocky substrata are disturbed by water motion. This study investigated occurrence of disturbance-related patterns in benthic boulder habitats on the north-eastern Baltic coast. Sessile assemblages, mostly algae on tops of boulders and barnacles and bryozoans underneath, were found to differ between small (50-150 cm 2 upperside surface area) and large (200-800 cm 2 ) boulders. Densities of motile gammaridean amphipods were negatively correlated with boulder size. These patterns may be due to small boulders being displaced by water motion more frequently than large ones. Most of the barnacle shells/tests were remnant empty ones, and the proportion of empty tests and living barnacles was similar underneath small and large boulders, suggesting that degradation/removal of empty tests was not influenced by disturbance associated with boulder size. There was no consistent evidence of algae being affected by boulder size, but the tops of boulders had less algae than the edges, a pattern that is typically associated with high rates of overturning. Confirmation of disturbance as having caused these patterns and thus being an important process for structuring benthic biota in this region could be achieved by further manipulative experimentation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Disturbance-related patterns in unstable rocky benthic habitats of the north-eastern Baltic coast

Liversage¹,

Kotta²

2015

Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci.

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“…Empirical data about movement ecology of Ischnochiton is required to determine whether dispersal behaviours such as these are occurring in reality and contributing to distributional patterns such as overdispersion. This pattern occurs when large variation among replicates causes data to not approximate a Poisson distribution ( Richards, 2008 ) and has been observed repeatedly for distribution data of other Ischnochiton species ( Grayson & Chapman, 2004 ; Liversage & Benkendorff, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…The present study focused on I. smaragdinus , a common chiton in South Australian rock-pools which contain a variety of substrata including mostly pebbles (diameter 4–64 mm), boulders (diameter >256 mm) and rock-platforms. First, we measured distributional patterns to test the hypothesis that adult individuals are overdispersed among boulders, similarly to many other representatives of Ischnochiton ( Grayson & Chapman, 2004 ; Liversage & Benkendorff, 2013 ). These distributions may be caused by movement behaviours.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first observations ofIschnochiton(Mollusca, Polyplacophora) movement behaviour, with comparison between habitats differing in complexity

Liversage

Benkendorff

2017

PeerJ

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Most species of Ischnochiton are habitat specialists and are almost always found underneath unstable marine hard-substrata such as boulders. The difficulty of experimenting on these chitons without causing disturbance means little is known about their ecology despite their importance as a group that often contributes greatly to coastal species diversity. In the present study we measured among-boulder distributional patterns of Ischnochiton smaragdinus, and used time-lapse photography to quantify movement behaviours within different habitat types (pebble substrata and rock-platform). In intertidal rock-pools in South Australia, I. smaragdinus were significantly overdispersed among boulders, as most boulders had few individuals but a small proportion harboured large populations. I. smaragdinus individuals emerge from underneath boulders during nocturnal low-tides and move amongst the inter-boulder matrix (pebbles or rock-platform). Seventy-two percent of chitons in the pebble matrix did not move from one pebble to another within the periods of observation (55–130 min) but a small proportion moved across as many as five pebbles per hour, indicating a capacity for adults to migrate among disconnected habitat patches. Chitons moved faster and movement paths were less tortuous across rock-platform compared to pebble substrata, which included more discontinuities among substratum patches. Overall, we show that patterns of distribution at the boulder-scale, such as the observed overdispersion, must be set largely by active dispersal of adults across the substratum, and that differing substratum-types may affect the degree of adult dispersal for this and possibly other under-boulder chiton species.

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“…Associations between specific species assemblages and rock types occur in many marine habitats at scales that encompass different geographical locations (Davidson & Chadderton 1994, Bavestrello et al 2000, Guidetti et al 2004, Green et al 2012, Liversage & Benkendorff 2013. Similar associations may occur in these South Australian reefs, in which case we would expect that assemblages on control boulders in siltstone and limestone reefs would be significantly different.…”

Section: Q1: Do Assemblages On Siltstone and Limestone Reefs Differ?mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…For example, barnacles on intertidal rock platforms are often influenced by features of the substratum (Chabot & Bourget 1988, Holmes et al 1997) and also play important roles during early succession (Chalmer 1982, Farrell 1991. Intertidal boulder reefs are another habitat where species are often influenced by succession (Sousa 1979) and rock type (McGuinness & Underwood 1986, James & Underwood 1994, Liversage & Benkendorff 2013. If rock type or other features of the substratum influence species in boulder reefs, there is the potential for succession across reefs of multiple rock types to be controlled by this factor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations of benthic fauna with different rock types, and evidence of changing effects during succession

Liversage

Janetzki²,

Benkendorff

2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The importance of the substratum to benthic species can vary depending on the material of its construction. Intertidal boulder reefs with different rock types often have distinct benthic assemblages, and their ecology is structured strongly by succession. Therefore, dynamics causing assemblage variability may involve an interaction of factors involved in succession with features of the substratum. The current experiments monitored 11 month successional trajectories of benthic invertebrates on 2 rock types (siltstone and limestone) with differing physical characteristics. Unmanipulated boulders in siltstone and limestone reefs had different assemblages, but when bare boulders of the non-native rock type were transplanted into reefs, assemblages developing on non-native boulders were in most ways similar to those on boulders of the reef's native rock type. A substratum-dependent variation in successional trajectories was observed for one taxon, the true limpet Notoacmea spp. Under specific conditions of rock type at the individual boulder scale and the wider reef scale, evidence was found of a consistent peak in abundance during early succession. Notoacmea spp. was also positively associated not only with siltstone reefs but also with individual siltstone boulders, suggesting an effect of rock type at the boulder scale. Although processes occurring at scales encompassing whole reefs mostly dictate how these assemblages are associated with rock type, some species are affected by rock type at the boulder scale, and the effect can vary during succession. For such species, successional processes and environmental factors need to be considered synergistically to understand spatial and temporal population variability.

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A preliminary investigation of diversity, abundance, and distributional patterns of chitons in intertidal boulder fields of differing rock type in South Australia

Cited by 20 publications

References 46 publications

Disturbance-related patterns in unstable rocky benthic habitats of the north-eastern Baltic coast

Disturbance-related patterns in unstable rocky benthic habitats of the north-eastern Baltic coast

The first observations ofIschnochiton(Mollusca, Polyplacophora) movement behaviour, with comparison between habitats differing in complexity

Associations of benthic fauna with different rock types, and evidence of changing effects during succession

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