Some Experimental Observations of Marine Algal Successions

Wilson, Orville Turner

doi:10.2307/1929204

Cited by 41 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other west coast colonization studies have reported rapid appearance of Petalonia and Scytosiphon on new substrata, but these spaces became available in January-February (Wilson 1925) and December . Their results might have been very different if the experiments had begun in spring or summer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Heteromorphic algal life histories: The seasonal pattern and response to herbivory of the brown crust, Ralfsia californica

Dethier

1981

Oecologia

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Little is known about the natural history of crustose phases of heteromorphic algae. A qualitative model describing their life history strategies has hypothesized that the morphologies and seasonal occurrences of the two phases evolved largely in response to variable grazing pressure. Crustose phases are predicted to occur when grazing is intense, and erect phases when grazing is reduced. The brown algal crust Ralfsia calfornica, which is the non-obligatory alternate phase of Scytosiphon lomentaria and/or Petalonia fascia, was studied on San Juan Island, Washington, USA. Both phases inhabit pools in the midto upper-intertidal zone, with the crust reaching maximum abundance between 1.8 and 2.3 m. The crust undergoes radical and predictable seasonal fluctuations in abundance, with a maximum in March-April and minimum in August. The erect phases are winter annuals, with maxima in January-April. Thus the crustose and erect phases show high temporal overlap. Colonization studies on new substrata showed that: 1) the crust is ephemeral, with a lifespan of 7-12 months, 2) it reproduces throughout the year and its propagules rapidly colonize new substrata at almost any time, while 3) erect phases appear only during the winter. Manipulations of limpets indicated that they do not directly graze the crust and are not responsible for its seasonal fluctuations in abundance; however, they are crucial to its persistence because they remove potential competitors. The crust fits poorly into models relating morphology to successional status in that it is ephemeral and opportunistic yet is grazer-resistant and grazer-dependent. Furthermore, both the crust and its erect phases are most abundant in the winter, when grazing appears to be least intense. Thus this heteromorphic complex exhibits interesting characteristics not predicted by current models.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Heteromorphic algal life histories: The seasonal pattern and response to herbivory of the brown crust, Ralfsia californica

Dethier

1981

Oecologia

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On the other hand, artificial substrata may be 'favored' by certain species, so that assemblage composition is not entirely representative of local assemblages found on the natural substrata which they are designed to mimic (see Glasby, 1998 and references therein). Even so, the first use of settlement panels to investigate community development dates back almost 90 years (Wilson, 1925), and panels have since proved useful tools for marine ecologists studying polar (Bowden et al, 2006), temperate (Glasby and Connell, 2001) and tropical (Hughes et al, 2000) ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme spatial variability in sessile assemblage development in subtidal habitats off southwest Australia (southeast Indian Ocean)

Smale

2012

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Another common method of deploying settlement panels is to attach them to ropes suspended from a structure or to ropes anchored to the substratum and held vertically by a float (e.g. Wilson 1925, Graham & Gay 1945, Mook 1981, Osman 1982, Bingham 1992, Archambault & Bourget 1999. Thus, the panels can rotate, or at least move considerably, and tend to orientate parallel to the prevailing current.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of sessile marine assemblages on fixed versus moving substrata

Glasby¹

2001

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Epibiotic assemblages have been shown previously to differ between pontoons and rocky reefs. This may occur for a variety of reasons, one of which is that pontoons move, whereas reefs do not. Effects of movement of the substratum are particularly pertinent to studies involving settlement panels because these experimental units are often suspended from pontoons such that they can move up and down, or attached to ropes such that they can rotate. The development of epibiotic assemblages on panels that were fixed, moved up and down, or rotated, was studied to test hypotheses about the effects of movement on sessile organisms. The covers of barnacles, sponges and ascidians increased greatly with increasing movement and/or rotation of the substratum, whereas species of red and brown foliose algae and tubiculous polychaetes generally decreased with increasing movement and/or rotation of the substratum. In general, assemblages on panels that moved up and down were most similar to those on rotating panels. One of the most obvious differences was the 2 to 3-fold greater biomass on rotating panels compared to fixed panels, which was attributed to the greater abundance of barnacles. It was concluded that, although movement of a surface can influence the composition of assemblages, this factor on its own may explain only some of the differences reported between pontoons and reefs. Furthermore, the method of deployment of settlement panels was shown to have great effects on the types of assemblages that develop. Differences in water flow were proposed to explain some of the observed patterns, but this idea needs to be investigated further.

show abstract

Some Experimental Observations of Marine Algal Successions

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Heteromorphic algal life histories: The seasonal pattern and response to herbivory of the brown crust, Ralfsia californica

Heteromorphic algal life histories: The seasonal pattern and response to herbivory of the brown crust, Ralfsia californica

Extreme spatial variability in sessile assemblage development in subtidal habitats off southwest Australia (southeast Indian Ocean)

Development of sessile marine assemblages on fixed versus moving substrata

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About