The Effects of Cover on Marine Species Abundance in Tidal Rock Pools on North

Stradbroke Island

Andrel Porga
karen !acob
ChrlsLa Poy
Clndy Crgan
May 7, 2009




"#$%&'()$*&#
1ldal rock pools are a haven for organlsms of all Lypes (!oerger !" $% 2008). 1hey come ln all shapes
and slzes, some have cover, whlle some are exposed Lo Lhe elemenLs. 1hose LhaL are covered wlll
have some sorL of canopy, algae, overhanglng rocks, or rock shade ln Lhe pool.
Canopy algae has been shown Lo provlde shade and proLecLlon for organlsms ln Lldal pools
(llguelredo !" $% 2000). Canopy also makes rock LemperaLures 3-10 degrees cenLlgrade lower and
decreases waLer evaporaLlon (8erLness !" $% 1999). lL has been noLed LhaL when removlng canopy
cover, Lhls resulLed ln a bleachlng and deaLh of Lurf specles wlLh a consequenL loss of enLrapped
sllL" (!enklns !" $%&, 1999). ln oLher words, removlng canopy kllls marlne planLs and lncreases
LurbldlLy, whlch musL also affecLs marlne anlmals ln Lhose hablLaLs.
1he alms of our research pro[ecL was Lo explore Lhe dlfferences beLween covered and non- covered
lnLer Lldal rock pools. We already know LhaL canopy removal resulLs ln a loss of Lurf specles and
enLrapped sllL, buL does Lhls affecL Lhe anlmal abundance ln Lhose Lldal rock pools? 1hls leads Lo our
hypoLhesls, LhaL Lhere ls a slgnlflcanL dlfference ln anlmal abundance beLween covered lnLer-Lldal
rock pools and non-covered lnLer-Lldal rock pools. Cur null hypoLhesls ls LhaL Lhere ls no slgnlflcanL
dlfference ln anlmal abundance beLween covered lnLer Lldal rock pools and non-covered lnLer-Lldal
rock pools.
+,$-%*,./ ,#' +-$0&'/
1hls sLudy was conducLed on Lhe rocky shores ouLslde of Lhe MorLon 8ay 8esearch SLaLlon, norLh
SLradbroke lsland, AusLralla. lL was conducLed over a one day perlod on March 22, 2009 durlng low
Llde, beLween 1pm and 4pm. 1he moon aL Lhe Llme was beLween a crescenL wanlng moon and a
new moon, resulLlng ln a smaller Lldal range Lhan aL full moon. lL was a sunny day wlLh no
preclplLaLlon and low wlnds. A Lape measure was used Lo measure Lhe dlsLance from Lhe upper Lldal
llmlL Lo Lhe rocky Lldal pools furLher ouL, whlch were 17.33 meLers away from Lhe upper Lldal llmlL. A
100 meLer LransecL parallel Lo Lhe waLer was lald ouL from Lhe flrsL rock pool.
LlghL quadraLs measurlng 0.3 meLers by 0.3 meLers were randomly dlsLrlbuLed ln Lldal pools along
Lhe LransecL. We Lhen esLlmaLed Lhe amounL of canopy cover ln Lhe quadraL, whlch lncluded any
algae, leaves, rocks ln Lhe pool, and overhanglng rocks. 1he quadraL was elLher llsLed as hlgh cover,
where coverage was over 13 of Lhe quadraL, or low coverage, where coverage was below 13 of
Lhe quadraL. hoLographs were Laken of each quadraL uslng a Cannon owerShoL A480. A physlcal
counL was Lhen made of all Lhe dlfferenL specles ln Lhe quadraL, and how many of each Lhere were.
1hls daLa was Lhen saved as an excel flle, llsLlng Lhe quadranL, lLs dlsLance from Lhe upper Lldal llmlL,
Lhe percenLage coverage, Lhe specles vlewed, and how many of each specles was vlewed.





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A LoLal of four low coverage and four hlgh coverage quadraLs were observed. 1he mean abundance
of specles ln boLh low and hlgh coverage quadraLs was calculaLed, along wlLh Lhe sLandard error (llg.
1).

llgure 1: Mean LoLal specles vs. ercenLage Cover ln rocky Lldal pools of norLh SLradbroke lsland
A one Lalled, Lwo sample unequal varlance L-LesL was conducLed on Lhe low coverage vs. hlgh
coverage specles abundance, whlch resulLed ln a p value = 0.013, whlch ls much lower Lhan Lhe
sLandard 0.03 needed for a L-LesL Lo be slgnlflcanLly valld.
Whlle ln Lhe fleld, we noLlced LhaL members of Lhe '$()*!$ famlly seemed Lo be more abundanL ln
hlgh coverage pools (llg. 2) and LhaL members of Lhe +($,-./($ famlly seemed Lo be more abundanL
ln low coverage pools (llg. 3).

0
3
10
13
20
23
30
33
40
43
30
Low Plgh
+
-
,
#

2
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.

3
4
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5-%)-#$,6- 7&8-%
9#*:,. 9;(#',#)- 8/< 5-%)-#$,6- 7&8-%

llgure 2: Mean 0$%$!123 4!(()5!( abundance vs. ercenLage Cover ln Lldal pools ln Lhe rocky Lldal
pools of norLh SLradbroke lsland

llgure 3: Mean +($,-./($ abundance vs. ercenLage Cover ln Lldal pools ln Lhe rocky Lldal pools of
norLh SLradbroke lsland
Applylng a one Lalled, Lwo sample unequal varlance L-LesL Lo Lhe '$()*!$ resulLed ln a p value =
0.189 whlch does noL make Lhls resulL slgnlflcanLly valld. Applylng a one Lalled, Lwo sample unequal
varlance L-LesL Lo Lhe +($,-./($ resulLed ln a p value = 0.293 whlch agaln, does noL make Lhls resulL
slgnlflcanLly valld.
0
3
10
13
20
23
low hlgh
=
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:
;
-
%


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>


5
,
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,
-
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#

3
-
%
%
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>
-
%

5-%)-#$,6- 7&8-%
!"#"$%&' )$**+,$* 9;(#',#)- 8/< 7&8-%,6-
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
low hlgh
=
(
:
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-
%

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%
,
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5-%)-#$,6- 7&8-%
7%,; 9;(#',#)- 8/< 7&8-%,6-
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Cur resulLs conflrm our hypoLhesls, LhaL Lhere ls lndeed a slgnlflcanL dlfference ln anlmal abundance
beLween covered lnLer-Lldal rock pools and non-covered lnLer-Lldal rock pools, wlLh aL 1.3 margln
of error. Clder research found LhaL canopy removal ln rock pools dld noL slgnlflcanLly affecL Lhe
dlverslLy of Lhe Lldal pools, expressed elLher as Lhe Shannon-Weaver lndex or as specles rlchness
(Cecchl, 1992). Powever, more recenL research has shown LhaL Lhe loss of hablLaL sLrucLure
generally leads Lo lower abundances (blomasses) and ofLen Lo decllnes ln specles rlchness"(Alroldl !"
$% 2008). Cur resulLs agree wlLh Lhe more recenL research.
As wlLh all experlmenLs, Lhere were llmlLaLlons LhaL affecLed our pro[ecL. 1here were only a llmlLed
amounL of Llde pools avallable along Lhe LransecL, and noL all of Lhem were large enough Lo lay ouL
our quadraL. CuL of Lhose pools, Lhere were even fewer avallable wlLh surface cover, hence our
declslon Lo make hlgh coverage pools Lhose wlLh 13 or more surface coverage. ldeally we would
have llked hlgh coverage Lo mean 30 or more coverage. Also, noL all Lldal pools had Lhe same waLer
depLh, whlch can affecL specles abundance. ln addlLlon, whlle counLlng anlmals ln Lhe pool, our
dlsLurbances caused some of Lhe anlmals Lo hlde or move ouL of Lhe quadraL, whlch affecLed our
daLa.
A fuLure sLudy could look lnLo seelng lf Lhe dlsLrlbuLlon of lndlvldual specles ls correlaLed wlLh
percenLage Lldal pool cover. Cur daLa relaLlng Lo Lhe barred esLuarlne shrlmp and hermlL crabs
would seem Lo lndlcaLe Lhls ls a posslblllLy. 1he sLudy should be performed ln Lhe same seLLlng, wlLh
daLa collecLlon durlng all seasons.












Alroldl, L., 8alaLa u., and 8eck, M.W. (2008). 1he gray zone: 8elaLlonshlps beLween hablLaL loss and
marlne dlverslLy and Lhelr appllcaLlons ln conservaLlon. 62/(3$% 25 789!()1!3"$% :$()3! +)2%2;. $3*
7,2%2;. 366, 8-13.
8erLness, M. u., Leonard, C. P., Levlne, !. M., SchmldL, . 8., and lngraham, A. C. (1999). 1esLlng Lhe
relaLlve conLrlbuLlon of poslLlve and negaLlve lnLeracLlons ln rocky lnLerLldal communlLles. 7,2%2;.
80, 2711-2726.
Cecchl, L. 8. and Clnelll, l. (1992). Canopy removal experlmenLs ln '.<"2<!)($=domlnaLed rockpools
from Lhe WesLern coasL of Lhe MedlLerranean(Llgurlan Sea) 62/(3$% 25 789!()1!3"$% :$()3! +)2%2;.
$3* 7,2%2;. 133, 69-83.
llguelredo, M. A. d. C., kaln, !. M. !. and norLon, 1. A. (2000). 8esponses of crusLose coralllnes Lo
eplphyLe and canopy cover. 62/(3$% 25 0-.,2%2;. 36, 17-24.
!enklns, S. 8., Pawklns, S. !. and norLon, 1. A. (1999). ulrecL and lndlrecL effecLs of a macroalgal
canopy and llmpeL grazlng ln sLrucLurlng a shelLered lnLer-Lldal communlLy. :$()3! 7,2%2;. 0(2;(!<<
4!()!< 188, 81-92.
!oerger, k. M., Meyer, 8. And WehrLmann, l. S. (2008). Specles composlLlon and verLlcal dlsLrlbuLlon
of chlLons (:2%%/<,$ 02%.9%$,29-2($> ln a rocky lnLerLldal zone of Lhe aclflc coasL of CosLa 8lca.
62/(3$% 25 "-! :$()3! +)2%2;),$% ?<<2,)$")23 25 "-! @3)"!* A)3;*21 88, 807-816.