Dynamic stability in two contrasting epibenthic communities
Warner, G.F. (1985). Dynamic stability in two contrasting epibenthic communities, in: Gibbs, P.E. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 19th European Marine Biology Symposium, Plymouth, Devon, UK, 16-21 September 1984. pp. 401-410
In: Gibbs, P.E. (Ed.) (1985). Proceedings of the Nineteenth European Marine Biology Symposium, Plymouth, Devon, UK, 16-21 September 1984. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-30294-3. 541 pp., more
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Document type: Conference paper
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| Abstract |
The communities encrusting stable and unstable hard substrata, at sites in the Solent and on Chesil Bank respectively, were studied for two years and have been compared. The sponge and arborescent bryozoan community on the stable substratum, a steel wreck, contained both fast-growing, seasonal species and slow-growing species with individuals persisting from year to year; this community was seasonally cyclic, but stable in composition. The serpulid and encrusting bryozoan community on the unstable substratum, stones, was destroyed by abrasion caused by wave action each winter; here recruitment started in late spring, and there was a continuous increase in species numbers and in the sizes of constituent organisms through the summer and into the autumn, at which time destruction by scouring commenced; however, a similar community developed in both years so adjustment stability was shown. It is suggested that the instability sometimes observed in fouling communities developing on experimental panels may be an artifact, and that natural communities are normally more stable. |
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