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East-west spatial groupings in intertidal communities, environmental drivers and key species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2016

Julian Merder ,
Jan A. Freund ,
Lukas Meysick ,
Christina Simkanin ,
Ruth M. O'Riordan  and
Anne Marie Power
Julian Merder
Affiliation:
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
Jan A. Freund
Affiliation:
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
Lukas Meysick
Affiliation:
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
Christina Simkanin
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA
Ruth M. O'Riordan
Affiliation:
School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland
Anne Marie Power*
Affiliation:
Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:A.M. Power, Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland email: annemarie.power@nuigalway.ie
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Abstract

The rocky intertidal communities of Ireland contain a mix of cold- and warm-adapted species, however the spatial distribution of these communities has not been investigated in a systematic way. Based on a benthic community dataset collected in 2003 at 63 sites, several statistical analyses were combined with the aims of (i) detecting groups of similar communities and their spatial arrangement, (ii) relating these groups to environmental factors and (iii) identifying the species that drive the different community groups. Sørensen's index suggested two marine community groups, one of the east and south-east (termed ‘east’) and the other in the west, south-west and north (termed ‘west’). A second partition based on combined wave exposure and sea surface chlorophyll comprised four groups, as did a further partition based on combined sea surface and air temperatures. The spatial arrangement of wave height plus chlorophyll conditions agreed reasonably well with the binary marine community partition, but the temperature partition did not. The ‘east’ community appeared to be associated with low wave height and chlorophyll conditions. The species that were most influential to the ‘east’ community were Balanus crenatus, Austrominius modestus and Fucus vesiculosus. The ‘west’ sites were associated with high wave height/low chlorophyll (with some variation in this due to local shelter) and the species Paracentrotus lividus, Chthamalus stellatus, Alaria esculenta and Himanthalia elongata. A longitudinal pattern rather than one associated with latitude was evident in this marine community and local drivers rather than temperature clines appeared most important for the dominant community patterns.

Keywords

Rocky shore communitysimilarity indexcluster analysiswave exposurechlorophyll aclimate changealgaemacroinvertebrates
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 98 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 423 - 435
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2016 

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