Meeting Abstract

63.2  Sunday, Jan. 6  Between a rock and a hard place: The relative importance of geology, substrates, and their properties to rocky intertidal communities PEROTTI, Elizabeth A.*; LINDBERG, David R.; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Berkeley marinelizard@berkeley.edu

Understanding the effects of geology and geologic history on communities and species is imperative for interpreting community structure, diversity patterns, and species interactions. Rocky intertidal communities, which have been a hotbed for conceptual advances in community ecology, exist in a mosaic of rock types that differ in a variety of ways. Surprisingly, the role of substrates and their properties for shaping communities remains poorly understood despite the direct implications for coastal management and conservation. In addition to comparing communities on different substrates, this study begins to 1) identify and characterize rock properties that may be important for supporting unique communities and biofilms, and 2) investigate the role of substratum on recruitment of important herbivores, patellogastropod limpets. Results demonstrate a clear difference between communities on natural and artificial substrates and reveal important species-specific responses to rock type and surface roughness. Additionally, surface microstructure, mineral composition, and grain size and shape may be important to communities by influencing water retention, biofilm communities, and erosion. Preliminary results suggest that patellogastropod recruitment and juvenile mortality may be strongly influenced by these features, which are determined by the rock properties characterized here.