Topographic complexity and landscape ­temperature patterns create a dynamic habitat structure on a rocky intertidal shore

Abstract

Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDynamic and static habitat traits determine associations of invertebrates on a rocky shore: limpets Cellana tramoserica under a ledge.

Kite Aerial Photography for Low-Cost, Ultra-high Spatial Resolution Multi-Spectral Mapping of Intertidal Landscapes

“…The spatial variables are potentially useful for computing water emersion times, habitat structural complexity and seasonal sun exposure at different positions along the shoreline, while spectral indices such as NDVI are potentially useful for evaluating algal biomass. Similar variables have been used as part of studies into body size and abundance of invertebrates on rocky shores [2], [5], variations in microalgal biomass versus surface light availability on soft intertidal sediments [52], spatial distributions of intertidal macrobenthos versus food availability and sediment size [19] and for quantitating fractional macroalgae coverage [18]. Our low-cost method allows for collections of relevant spatial and spectral data across a cascade of fine-spatial scales, in a non-destructive manner, while preserving a permanent electronic record that can be used for comparison against repeated surveys, and thus could be an extremely useful tool within these type of studies.…”

“…Intertidal ecosystems have primarily been studied using field-based sampling e.g. [2]–[5] at appropriate resolutions to capture the spatial variability at which assemblages occur. When studies cover a broad area of shoreline or occur at multiple sites, extensive field-based sampling requires a large amount of logistical effort and data is often not recorded in a contiguous manner (i.e.…”

“…In [2] ground-based stereo-photos and photogrammetry techniques were used to measure different forms of structural complexity along repeated 30 cm transects to study the correlation to gastropod abundance in both rocky intertidal and mangrove habitats. In [5] similar field-based photogrammetry were used to measure topographic complexity along with surface temperature measurements to study the influence of habitat structure on body size and abundance of different invertebrates on an intertidal rocky shore.…”

On some hypotheses of diversity of animal life at great depths on the sea floor

“…However, the role of heterogeneity in environmental conditions and habitat properties is surprisingly poorly resolved in the marine benthos (Meager et al . ; Meager & Schlacher ), including the deep sea (McClain et al . ).…”

New metric of microhabitat complexity predicts species richness on a rocky shore

“…In other habitats, measures such as rugosity, fractal dimension and the size of interstitial spaces are used as metrics of complexity (Raffaelli & Hawkins ; Beck ; Murdock & Dodds ; Meager et al . ). This diversity of approaches stems from the basic requirement that measures of habitat complexity must include features that are functionally relevant to the taxonomic groups in question (McCoy & Bell ; Tews et al .…”