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Intertidal assemblages across boulders and rocky platforms: a multi-scaled approach in a subtropical island

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Abstract

Rocky intertidal communities have proved to be tractable systems for experimental ecology, contributing much to our general understanding of population and community ecology. Physical environmental factors are usually considered strong structuring elements for these assemblages. In this study, we adopted a mixed model sampling design to study the effects of substratum type and shore orientation (i.e. different wave exposure) on intertidal assemblages of Madeira Island (NE Atlantic) across time. We included both macrofauna and macroalgae and compare their abundance and distribution in boulders and rocky platforms on north and south coasts of the island. Generally, assemblages moderately differed between boulders and rocky platforms whereas orientation had little influence on the distribution of most taxa. A high variability was observed across a range of spatial and temporal scales, suggesting that interactions of both physical variables and biological parameters may be influencing distribution of intertidal organisms. The results obtained provide pioneer quantitative data on intertidal assemblages of Madeira.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Nahir Abraín and Lurdes Ferreira for their assistance during field surveys and to Drs. Gustavo Martins and Juan Moreira for their helpful comments. Finally, this study had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2019 granted to MARE. The manuscript was substantially improved through the comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers. This is contribution #42 from the Smithsonian’s MarineGEO network.

Funding

EC and IG were financially supported by post-doctoral grants in the framework of the 2015 ARDITI Grant Programme Madeira 14-20 (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001). PR was financially supported by the Oceanic Observatory of Madeira Project (M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000001-Observatório Oceânico da Madeira-OOM), co-financed by the Madeira Regional Operational Programme (Madeira 14-20), under the Portugal 2020 strategy, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). JCC was supported by a starting grant in the framework of the 2014 FCT Investigator Programme (IF/01606/2014/CP1230/CT0001). Additional funding was provided from National Funds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the projects UID/BIA/00329/2013, 2015-2018 and UID/BIA/00329/2019, and DRCT-M1.1.a/005/Funcionamento-C/2016.

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Correspondence to Eva Cacabelos.

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Communicated by I. Kjersti Sjøtun

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Fig. S1

Low level. a, Mean (+SE, per quadrat) number of Patella spp. across locations and sampling times, and b, across sites (showing differences between the substratum types (for further details see Tables S1 and S2). (PNG 233 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIF 49 kb)

Fig. S2

Mid level. Mean (+SE, per quadrat) a, cover of sessile organisms across time showing differences between the substratum types, b, across locations, showing differences between the substratum types, and c, total number of motile fauna across sites, showing differences between the substratum types. (PNG 466 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIF 117 kb)

Fig. S3

Mid level. Mean (+SE, per quadrat) cover of Chthamalus, a, across locations, and, b, across time, showing differences between the substratum types, and c, number of Melarhaphe across sites, showing differences between the substratum types. (PNG 239 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIF 54 kb)

Fig. S4

High level. Mean (+SE, per quadrat) a, total counts of motile fauna, and b, cover of sessile organisms across time, showing differences between the substratum types and orientations, c, number of taxa, d, number of Phorcus and, e, Melarhaphe across locations and sampling times showing differences between the substratum types. (PNG 350 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIF 68 kb)

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Cacabelos, E., Gestoso, I., Ramalhosa, P. et al. Intertidal assemblages across boulders and rocky platforms: a multi-scaled approach in a subtropical island. Mar. Biodivers. 49, 2709–2723 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-019-01000-7

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