BENSON, K.R.: “The study of vertical zonation on ricky intertidal shores–A historical perspective

Although zonation was noted within intertidal communities along the shorelines in Europe and the United States in the late nineteenth century, its causes were not investigated until the twentieth century. Beginning first at the University of Washington’s marine laboratory in the San Juan Islands, Henry Chandler Cowles and then Victor Shelford attempted to understand the physiological conditions behind the well-marked zonation patterns. By 1928, Shelford abandoned the project, stating that more natural history of intertidal communities was needed and the “time was not ripe” for the experimental approaches he pioneered. George Mac Ginitie’s classic study of Elkhorn Slough during the 1930s illustrated to ecologists the need for long-term studies, not just short-term experimentation. Following the Second World War, a host of studies combined the experimental approach with longitudinal studies, thus illuminating for the first time the intimate association of physical factors and biological factors in creating the zones observed in orcky intertidal communities. This paper will provide a brief historical overview of these important studies, with an historical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches to understanding intertidal zonation.