Population structure in high shore littorinids: contrast between riprap and rocky shores

World Congress of Malacology, Ponta Delgada, July 22-28, 2013.

The number of anthropogenic structures deployed in coastal areas has increased markedly in recent times and many studies have now shown that these structures seldom mimic the natural habitais they replace. To date, however, most such studies have focused on the numbers and relative abundance of species and little is known about how these structures affect the patterns of species aggregation and size structure, despite the fact that variations in these parameters may have important ecological consequences at population and community levels. Here we compare the relative abundance, patterns of aggregation and size structure of two high shore gastropod littorinids (Tectarius striatus and Melarhaphe neritoides) on riprap and adjacent rocky shores. While the relative abundance of T. striatus was similar on riprap and natural rocky shores, M. neritoides was significantly more abundant on rocky shores. At small spatial scales (cm’s) both littorinids specics showed more aggregated distributions on riprap. At larger scales (cm’s), both littorinids were also more aggregated on riprap although this was only significant for T. striatus. Habitat type influenced the size structure whith both species attaining a significantly larger size on riprap. Here we add to the wider literature by showing that anthropogenic structures can affect intertidal assemblages in ways other than richness or the relative abundance of organisms alone. The here documented variation in patterns of aggregation and size structure between habitats likely influence the population dynamics of these species and may have wider community level consequences.