Percent cover measure of mussel bed succession on rocky shores due to intra-population variation in dogwhelk drilling

Despite growing interest of eco-evolutionary dynamics, there have been few experiments that test the importance of these feedbacks in natural ecosystems at the community level. A selection experiment on intra-population variation in dogwhelk (Nucella canaliculata) drilling was performed in the laboratory. Dogwhelks were given one of four early-life diet treatments (thin-shelled Mytilus trossulus mussels, two treatments of M. californianus from two populations known to differ in shell thickness, and acorn barnacles) for the first 3 months of life. Surviving adult dogwhelks were outplanted to field cages at Bodega Marine Reserve to test the ecological consequences of divergent phenotypes. Mussel bed succession was quantified by percent cover of sessile organisms in the plots over the course of approximately one year.