MULLIGAN, C. C.*; JOHNSON, K. B.; Florida Institute of Technology: The Impact of Wind-Driven Waves on the Recruitment, Persistence and Morphology of Rocky Intertidal Organisms

We are measuring the effects of wave action on rocky intertidal communities in a shallow subtropical estuary. Along the east coast of Florida there are seasonal shifts from northerly-dominating to southerly-dominating winds. Causeways running east to west across the estuary host rocky intertidal organisms on their north and south sides. These causeways afford an opportunity to examine the effects of wind-driven waves on intertidal organisms. Past research has shown recruitment, community composition, and morphology can vary with degree of wave action. In a shallow enclosed estuary, where the main source of wave action is wind alone, population and community responses to wave action should correlate with wind. Daily observations of wave characteristics on both sides of the causeways are being recorded and regressed against wind speed and direction. At the same time, replicated short-term and long-term settlement sites on both sides of five causeways are yielding data on recruitment, persistence of initial settlers (and the resulting community composition), and morphology of individuals under seasonally shifting wind regimes.