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菊海鞘（Botryllus schlosseri）群落是否会对固着无脊椎动物的定居补充产生影响。实验选用经野外放置8周后转移至实验室流水台的小型有机玻璃（perspex）平板，以此检验上述假说。实验组平板仅保留菊海鞘群落，其余所有附着生物均被刮除；对照组与"模拟组"平板则刮除了全部附着生物。模拟组所用的菊海鞘模型由硅酮材料制成，用于明确实验效应究竟来源于生物体的物理结构，还是其生物学特性（如沉降后覆盖行为或化学防御机制）。所有平板于2004年3月2日至3月12日期间，悬挂于威廉斯敦工坊码头（Workshops Jetty, Williamstown）10天，随后完成回收。实验结束后，统计并鉴定平板上附着的所有物种。