Effects of introduced species on the recruitment of sessile invertebrates.

This experiment was conducted to determine if an established Botryllus schlosseri colony affected the recruitment of sessile invertebrates. Small perspex plates that had been in the field for 8 weeks and then in a laboratory water table were used to test this hypothesis. Treatment plates were scraped of all organisms expect for the B. schlosseri colonies. Control and 'mimic' plates were scraped of all organisms. Mimic B. schlosseri were made from silicone and used to determine if the effects were due to the physical structure of the organism or biological attributes (e.g. post-settlement overgrowth or chemical defence mechanisms). Plates were suspended from Workshops Jetty, Williamstown for 10 days (2nd March to 12th March 2004) before being collected. At the conclusion of the experiment all species found on the plates were counted and identified.

本实验旨在探究已定植的聚集体玻璃海鞘（Botryllus schlosseri）群落是否会对固着无脊椎动物的附着招募产生影响。实验采用经野外放置8周后转移至实验室流水槽的小型有机玻璃（perspex）平板，以检验该实验假说。处理组平板需刮除除聚集体玻璃海鞘群落以外的所有附着生物；对照组与“模拟组”平板则刮除全部附着生物。模拟聚集体玻璃海鞘由硅酮材料制成，用于区分实验效应究竟来源于该生物的物理结构，还是其自身的生物学属性（例如沉降后的过度生长或化学防御机制）。随后将平板悬挂于威廉斯敦（Williamstown）的Workshops Jetty码头下方10天（2004年3月2日至3月12日），随后回收。实验结束后，对平板上采集到的所有物种进行计数与种类鉴定。