Biodiversity and metacommunity structure of rocky intertidal invertebrates in some coastal ecosystems in Puerto Rico

The goals of this study were to determine the relative importance of environmental (wave power density, wave height) and habitat (e.g., algal cover, slope, complexity of rock surfaces) factors associated with the structure of local assemblages at multiple shore heights and the regional metacommunity of mobile invertebrates on oceanic rocky intertidal habitats. These characteristics and abundances of 41 species of invertebrate were estimated at 10 plots at each of three tidal heights at each of ten sites on the shoreline of Puerto Rico. Support for this work was provided by grants BSR-8811902, DEB-9411973, DEB-9705814 , DEB-0080538, DEB-0218039 , DEB-0620910 , DEB-1239764, DEB-1546686, and DEB-1831952 from the National Science Foundation to the University of Puerto Rico as part of the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Additional support provided by the University of Puerto Rico and the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service.

本研究旨在明确环境因子（波浪能密度、波高）与栖息地因子（如藻类覆盖度、坡度、岩石表面复杂度）对多个潮间带高度下的本地群落结构，以及大洋岩质潮间带生境中移动无脊椎动物的区域集合群落（metacommunity）的相对重要性。研究团队在波多黎各海岸线的10个样点中，每个样点设置3个潮汐高度，每个高度下布设10个样方，对41种无脊椎动物的相关特征与种群丰度进行了调查估算。本研究得到美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）为推进卢奎洛长期生态研究计划，向波多黎各大学拨付的多项拨款支持，拨款编号包括BSR-8811902、DEB-9411973、DEB-9705814、DEB-0080538、DEB-0218039、DEB-0620910、DEB-1239764、DEB-1546686及DEB-1831952。此外，本研究还获得波多黎各大学与美国农业部林业局国际热带森林研究所的额外资助。