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Monitoring spatio-temporal variation in molluscan grazing pressure in seasonal, tropical rock pools

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Abstract

In Hong Kong, low-shore rock pools support a patchy mosaic of different successional stages of crustose coralline algae. Echinoid and molluscan grazers are abundant in these low-shore rock pools and spatial and temporal variation in grazing pressure is thought to play an important role in structuring these assemblages. Direct records of graze marks using a modified wax-disc method were used to monitor spatial (different pools) and temporal (periods, 3 or 4 days each; spring vs. neap tides; summer vs. winter) variations in grazing pressure. Radula marks of Chlorostoma argyrostoma, Lunella coronata and Nerita albicilla were common in all pools. Grazing pressure was highly variable with tidal state and season but also within these two factors. Lunella and Nerita exerted highest grazing pressure at neap tides during summer, whilst Chlorostoma exerted highest grazing pressure in winter. Although overall patterns of temporal variation were similar and consistent in all pools, there was between pool variation in grazing pressure and individual species showed different patterns. Within the seasonal and tidal variations, large period-to-period differences were found for all species, illustrating small-scale temporal variation. Fine-scale spatial and temporal patterns of variation in grazing pressure of different species, therefore, contribute to the highly dynamic nature of these low-shore rock pools.

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Acknowledgements

Permission to work at the Cape d’Aguilar Marine Reserve was granted by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong Government, HKSAR, China. The authors thank colleagues who worked in the H.K.U. rocky shore ecology group for their help in the field. We thank Prof. B. Darvell for providing us with dental wax. This research was conducted in partial fulfilment for a PhD degree by Tak-Cheung Wai, who was supported by a postgraduate studentship at The University of Hong Kong. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

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  1. The Swire Institute of Marine Science, Department of Ecology & Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Tak-Cheung Wai & Gray A. Williams

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  1. Tak-Cheung Wai
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  2. Gray A. Williams
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Correspondence to Tak-Cheung Wai.

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Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe

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Wai, TC., Williams, G.A. Monitoring spatio-temporal variation in molluscan grazing pressure in seasonal, tropical rock pools. Mar Biol 149, 1139–1147 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0291-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0291-7

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