Inconsistency in short-term temporal variability of microgastropods within and between two different intertidal habitats |
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Authors: | C OlabarriaMG Chapman |
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Institution: | Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, Marine Ecology Laboratories A11, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia |
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Abstract: | Small-scale temporal variation in abundances of fauna in marine soft sediments has long been recognised. Many studies on rocky intertidal shores have, however, focused on larger fauna in single habitats and have primarily examined relatively long time-scales. The implications of small-scale variability are frequently not adequately addressed in the studies of changes in fauna over longer time-scales. Without knowledge of the magnitude of variation at smaller scales, comparisons across longer time-scales may be confounded. In this study, the temporal variability of a number of co-existing species of microgastropods in patches of two different intertidal habitats (coralline turf and sediment) in Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia, was measured using a nested, hierarchical sampling design incorporating temporal scales of weeks, 1 and 3 months. In addition to habitats, there were also spatial scales of metres between plots and 100s of metres between the locations. There was generally a lack of consistency in the trends of variance for the three temporal scales at the smallest spatial scale of plots. In addition, the different species, including those that were closely related, showed different patterns of variation, depending on the habitat and site. These data show the importance of incorporating adequate scales of sampling in different habitats when analysing the distribution and abundance of microbenthos in intertidal habitats. |
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Keywords: | Australia Intertidal Microgastropods Temporal scale Variance Patchiness |
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