Spatial and temporal variability of patterns of colonization by mussels (Mytilus trossulus, M-edulis) on a wave-exposed rocky shore
Date
1998
Authors
Hunt, HL
Scheibling, Robert Eric
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Abstract
Colonization rates of mussels (Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis) were measured on natural
substrata in tidepools and on emergent rock in recently ice-scoured and non-scoured regions of a
rocky shore near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The relative importance of initial
settlement/colonization, compared to subsequent dispersal and mortality, in determining the
distribution and abundance of mussels was examined by comparing patterns and rates of mussel
colonization at sampling intervals of days to months over a 17 mo period. Less than 4% of mussels
which colonized the quadrats sampled at short (2 to 7 d) intervals were settling larvae (2 mm, too
large to be dispersed by byssal drifting, suggesting they were redistributed by wave dislodgment and
deposition. At both short (2 to 7 d) and long (5 to 16 mo) sampling intervals, colonists were most
abundant in ice-scoured tidepools and least abundant on ice-scoured emergent rock, probably
reflecting differences in the macrobenthic assemblage, the substratum for colonization. In addition,
the long term abundance of colonists was linearly related to the cumulative short term abundance
during all but one of the intervals. Therefore, our results indicate that, over time scales up to 16
mo, patterns of initial colonization by settlers and larger post-larval mussels were more important
than post-colonization mortality and dispersal in determining patterns of distribution and abundance
of mussels on this shore.
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Citation
Hunt, HL, and RE Scheibling. 1998. "Spatial and temporal variability of patterns of colonization by mussels (Mytilus trossulus,
M-edulis) on a wave-exposed rocky shore." Marine Ecology Progress Series 167: 155-169. doi:10.3354/meps167155