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Coastal oceanography sets the pace of rocky intertidal community dynamics
- B. A. Menge*,†,
- J. Lubchenco*,
- M. E. S. Bracken*,
- F. Chan*,
- M. M. Foley*,
- T. L. Freidenburg*,
- S. D. Gaines‡,
- G. Hudson*,
- C. Krenz*,
- H. Leslie*,
- D. N. L. Menge§,
- R. Russell*, and
- M. S. Webster*
- *Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; ‡Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; and §Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
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Contributed by J. Lubchenco, July 31, 2003
Abstract
The structure of ecological communities reflects a tension among forces that alter populations. Marine ecologists previously emphasized control by locally operating forces (predation, competition, and disturbance), but newer studies suggest that inputs from large-scale oceanographically modulated subsidies (nutrients, particulates, and propagules) can strongly influence community structure and dynamics. On New Zealand rocky shores, the magnitude of such subsidies differs profoundly between contrasting oceanographic regimes. Community structure, and particularly the pace of community dynamics, differ dramatically between intermittent upwelling regimes compared with relatively persistent down-welling regimes. We suggest that subsidy rates are a key determinant of the intensity of species interactions, and thus of structure in marine systems, and perhaps also nonmarine communities.
Footnotes
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↵ † To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mengeb{at}science.oregonstate.edu.
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Abbreviations: WB, Woodpecker Bay; TM, Twelve-Mile Beach; JH, Jackson Head; RR, Raramai; BT, Box Thumb; SP, Shag Point; chl-a, chlorophyll a.
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See commentary on page 11927.
- Copyright © 2003, The National Academy of Sciences
