Shanks Alan L, Wright William G
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3407 Arendell St., 28577, Morehead City, NC, USA.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, 92093, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Oecologia. 1986 Jun;69(3):420-428. doi: 10.1007/BF00377065.
Observations in rocky intertidal areas demonstrate that breaking waves 'throw' rocks and cobbles and that these missiles can damage and kill organisms. Targets in the intertidal were dented by impacts from wave-borne rocks. New dents/day in these targets was positively correlated with the daily maximum significant wave height and with new patches/day in aggregations of the barnacle Chthamalus fissus. Impact frequency was highest in the upper intertidal and varied dramatically between microhabitats on individual boulders (edges, tops and faces). These patterns were reflected in the microhabitat abundances of 'old' and 'young' barnacles. Comparisons were made of the survivorship and the frequency of shell damage in two populations of the limpet Lottia gigantea living in habitats which differed primarily in the number of moveable rocks (i.e. potential projectiles). The mortality rate and frequency of shell damage were significantly higher in the projectilerich habitat. In addition only in this habitat did the frequency of shell damage covary significantly with seasonal periods of high surf. Investigation of the response of limpet shells to impacts suggests that shell strength varies between species and increases with shell size. Species-specific patterns of non-fatal shell breakage may have evolved to absorb the energy of impacts. In two of the intertidal habitats studied, wave-borne rock damage was chronic and, at least in part, may have governed the faunal makeup of the community by contributing to the physical 'boundaries" of the environment within which the inhabitants must survive.
在岩石潮间带区域的观察表明，破浪会“抛起”岩石和卵石，这些抛射物会损害并杀死生物。潮间带的目标物因海浪携带的岩石撞击而出现凹痕。这些目标物每天新增的凹痕数量与每日最大有效波高以及藤壶Chthamalus fissus聚集体中每天新增的斑块数量呈正相关。撞击频率在潮间带上部最高，并且在单个巨石上的微生境（边缘、顶部和表面）之间差异很大。这些模式反映在“老”藤壶和“幼”藤壶的微生境丰度上。对生活在主要因可移动岩石（即潜在抛射物）数量不同的栖息地中的两种帽贝Lottia gigantea种群的存活率和壳损伤频率进行了比较。在抛射物丰富的栖息地中，死亡率和壳损伤频率显著更高。此外，只有在这个栖息地，壳损伤频率才与高浪的季节周期显著相关。对帽贝壳对撞击的反应的研究表明，壳强度因物种而异，并随壳大小增加。特定物种的非致命壳破裂模式可能已经进化以吸收撞击能量。在所研究的两个潮间带栖息地中，海浪携带的岩石造成的破坏是长期存在的，并且至少在一定程度上，可能通过形成居民必须生存的环境的物理“边界”来控制群落的动物组成。
