Peterson Charles H
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 21228, Catonsville, Maryland, USA.
Oecologia. 1979 Jan;39(1):1-24. doi: 10.1007/BF00345993.
Community organization was studied by experiment and observation from October 1972-October 1974 in the marine epifaunal assemblages at each end of Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey. The rock jetty at the wave-exposed eastern end of the inlet possesses an intertidal community with the following attributes: (1) a high intertidal zone dominated by the barnacle, Balanus balanoides, but also occupied by the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, in rock crevices, (2) a mid and low intertidal zone with usually <10% free space and extreme numerical dominance by Mytilus edulis (usually >85% cover) during summer and fall, and (3) almost no intertidal predators or herbivores. The predatory seastar, Asterias forbesi, is abundant subtidally. Controlled removal experiments indicate that in the mid and low intertidal underlying barnacles perish as a consequence of the establishmentof extensive secondary cover by Mytilus, probably because Mytilus outcompetes Balanus through suffocation or starvation. Mytilus transplants demonstrate that the mussels do not survive outside of crevices in the high intertidal, which thus may represent for Balanus a refuge from competition by Mytilus.The pilings on docks at the protected western end of Barnegat Inlet possess an intertidal epifaunal community with the following characteristics: (1) a high intertidal zone that includes Balanus balanoides, a second barnacle, Balanus eburneus, and an herbivorous gastropod, Littorina littorea, (2) a mid and low intertidal zone with usually >40% free space in the summer and fall and the remaining area covered by several abundant species with no extreme dominant, and (3) abundant predators, chiefly the oyster drill, Urosalpinx cinerea, the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, and a mud crab, Neopanope texana sayi. Asterias forbesi, while abundant subtidally, is also occasionally present on intertidal surfaces. Controlled exclusion of predators by caging several replicate pilings at the western end of the inlet reveals that predation prevents monopolization of mid and low intertidal space by the apparent competitive dominant, Mytilus. Predation appears to be a direct cause of the relatively great temporal and spatial heterogeneity in the mid and low intertidal of these pilings.Thus, although the Barnegat Inlet intertidal system appears to follow closely the patterns of community organization described for several other rocky intertidal coastlines, this organizational pattern is noteworthy because it is repeated here in a far more seasonal environment and with a new cast of interacting competitors and predators. That crabs play an important role as predators is novel for North America, but only perhaps because all previous North American studies have ignored the rocky intertidal zones of quiet, estuarine waters where in Europe predatory crabs are known to be extremely significant.
1972年10月至1974年10月，通过实验和观察对新泽西州巴尼加特湾入口两端的海洋表栖动物群落中的群落组织进行了研究。位于该湾入口处受海浪冲击的东端的岩石防波堤拥有一个潮间带群落，其具有以下特征：（1）高潮间带以藤壶（Balanus balanoides）为主，但在岩石裂缝中也有蓝贻贝（Mytilus edulis）；（2）中潮间带和低潮间带在夏季和秋季通常自由空间小于10%，蓝贻贝数量占绝对优势（通常覆盖率大于85%）；（3）几乎没有潮间带捕食者或食草动物。捕食性海星（Asterias forbesi）在潮下带数量丰富。控制移除实验表明，在中潮间带和低潮间带，下层的藤壶因蓝贻贝形成广泛的次生覆盖而死亡，这可能是因为蓝贻贝通过窒息或饥饿排挤了藤壶。蓝贻贝移植实验表明，贻贝在高潮间带的裂缝之外无法存活，因此高潮间带可能是藤壶躲避蓝贻贝竞争的避难所。位于巴尼加特湾入口受保护的西端码头的桩柱拥有一个潮间带表栖动物群落，其具有以下特征：（1）高潮间带包括藤壶（Balanus balanoides）、另一种藤壶（Balanus eburneus）和一种食草性腹足动物（Littorina littorea）；（2）中潮间带和低潮间带在夏季和秋季通常自由空间大于40%，其余区域被几种丰富的物种覆盖，没有极端优势种；（3）有丰富的捕食者，主要是牡蛎钻孔蟹（Urosalpinx cinerea）、蓝蟹（Callinectes sapidus）和一种泥蟹（Neopanope texana sayi）。海星（Asterias forbesi）虽然在潮下带数量丰富，但也偶尔出现在潮间带表面。通过在入口西端将几个重复的桩柱用笼子罩住来控制捕食者，结果表明捕食作用阻止了明显的竞争优势种蓝贻贝对中潮间带和低潮间带空间的垄断。捕食似乎是这些桩柱中潮间带和低潮间带相对较大的时间和空间异质性的直接原因。因此，尽管巴尼加特湾潮间带系统似乎与其他几个岩石潮间带海岸线所描述的群落组织模式非常相似，但这种组织模式值得注意，因为它在一个季节性更强的环境中重复出现，并且有一群新的相互作用的竞争者和捕食者。螃蟹作为捕食者发挥重要作用在北美是新发现，但这可能只是因为之前所有的北美研究都忽略了宁静河口海域的岩石潮间带，而在欧洲，已知捕食性螃蟹在那里极其重要。
