Changes in invertebrate assemblages inhabitingAbstract.-On February 27th 2010, a mega-earthquake struck Chile causing coastal coseismic uplift. In this study we compared the invertebrate fauna from uplifted (UH) and non-uplifted (NH) Lessonia spicata kelp holdfasts. Multivariate analysis of the assemblage structure revealed different faunal composition between holdfasts, the anemone Phymactis clematis and the mussel Perumytilus purpuratus displayed the highest contribution to these differences, being most abundant in UH. A preference to inhabit in UH is most likely to be related to food availability and capacity to thrive with high salinity and desiccation, while NH became habitat for a rare primary ecological succession. The present study helps to understand ecological implications of such rare events.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.