Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The effects of experimental bait collection and trampling on a Mytilus californianus mussel bed in southern California

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rocky shores in southern California are heavily visited by humans. At sites used by recreational fishers, the effects of foot traffic combined with the collection of mussels for bait may reduce mussel cover and create mussel-free gaps. To test this hypothesis, the effects of trampling and bait-removal on mussel populations were experimentally examined. Plots in a mussel bed were subjected to monthly combinations of trampling (0, 150, or 300 steps) and simulated bait-removal (0 or 2 removed mussels). Although the experiment was done during a period of high natural disturbance associated with the 1997–1998 ENSO, plots receiving treatments experienced significantly greater reductions in mussel cover, mass, and density than controls. These results indicate that visitor foot traffic and bait-removal by fishers can significantly reduce mussel cover, density, biomass, and sizes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Addessi L (1994) Human disturbances and long-term changes on a rocky intertidal community. Ecol Appl 4:786–797

    Google Scholar 

  • Bally R, Griffiths CL (1989) Effects of human trampling on an exposed rocky shore. Int J Environ Stud 34:115–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayne BL, Bayne CJ, Carefoot TC, Thompson RJ (1976) The physiological ecology of Mytilus californianus Conrad. 1. Metabolism and energy balance. Oecologia 22:211–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchamp KA, Gowing MM (1982) A quantitative assessment of human trampling effects on a rocky intertidal community. Mar Environ Res 7:279–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blake RW (1979) Exploitation of a natural population of Arenicola marina (L.) from the north-east coast of England. J Appl Ecol 16:663–670

    Google Scholar 

  • Branch GM (1975) Notes on the ecology of Patella concolor and Cellana capensis, and the effects of human consumption on limpet populations. Zool Afr 10:75–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan DM, Crumrine LL (1994) Effects of human trampling on marine rocky shore communities. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 177:79–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown PJ, Taylor RB (1999) Effects of trampling by humans on animals inhabiting coralline algal turf in the rocky intertidal. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 235:45–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castenholz RW (1967) Stability and stresses in intertidal populations: In: Olson TA, Burgess FJ (eds) Pollution and marine ecology. Interscience, New York, pp 15–28

  • Cimberg RL (1975) Zonation, species diversity and redevelopment in the rocky intertidal near Trinidad, northern California. MS Thesis, Humboldt State University, California

  • Coe WR (1945) Nutrition and growth of the California bay-mussel (Mytilus edulis diegensis). J Exp Zool 99:1–14

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coe WR, Fox DL (1942) Biology of the Californian sea mussel (Mytilus californianus). I. Influence of temperature, food supply, sex and age on the rate of growth. J Exp Zool 90:1–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Coe WR, Fox DL (1944) Biology of the Californian sea mussel (Mytilus californianus). III. Environmental conditions and rate of growth. Biol Bull 87:58–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Cryer M, Whittle GN, Williams R (1987) The impact of bait collection by anglers on marine intertidal invertebrates. Biol Conserv 42:83–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dayton PK (1971) Competition, disturbance, and community organization: the provision and subsequent utilization of space in a rocky intertidal community. Ecol Monogr 41:351–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Denis TG (2003) Effects of human foot traffic on the standing stock, reproduction, and the size structure of populations of the intertidal rockweed Silvetia compressa (O. Fucales). MS Thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton

  • Denny M (1987) Lift as a mechanism of patch initiation in mussel beds. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 113:231–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durán LR, Castilla JC (1989) Variation and persistence of the middle rocky intertidal community of central Chile, with and without human harvesting. Mar Biol 103:555–562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckrich CE, Holmquist JG (2000) Trampling in a seagrass assemblage: direct effects, response of associated fauna, and the role of substrate characteristics. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 201:199–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Engle JM, Davis GE (2000a) Baseline surveys of rocky intertidal ecological resources at Point Loma, San Diego. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Geological Survey, Sacramento, Calif

  • Engle JM, Davis GE (2000b) Ecological condition and public use of the Cabrillo National Monument intertidal zone, 1990–1995. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Geological Survey, Sacramento, Calif

  • Fairweather PG (1991) A conceptual framework for ecological studies of coastal resources: an example of a tunicate collected for bait on Australian seashores. Ocean Shoreline Manage 15:125–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox DL, Coe WR (1943) Biology of the Californian sea mussel (Mytilus californianus). II. Nutrition, metabolism, growth, and calcium deposition. J Exp Zool 93:205–249

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghazanshahi J, Huchel TD, Devinny JS (1983) Alteration of southern California rocky shore ecosystems by public recreational use. J Environ Man 16:379–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Harger JRE (1972) Competitive co-existence: maintenance of interacting associations of the sea mussels Mytilus edulis and Mytilus californianus. Veliger 14:387–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewatt WG (1935) Ecological succession in the Mytilus californianus habitat as observed in Monterey Bay, California. Ecology 16:244–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill M, Vesco L, Dunaway ME, McCrary M, Pierson M (1992) Mussel recovery and species dynamics at four California intertidal sites. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Minerals Management Service, Pacific OCS Region

  • Jackson MJ, James R (1979) The influence of bait digging on cockle, Cerastoderma edule, populations in North Norfolk. J Appl Ecol 16:671–679

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanter RG (1978) Mussel communities. In: Littler MM (ed) The annual and seasonal ecology of southern California rocky intertidal, subtidal and tidepool biotas. Southern California Baseline Study. Final Report, vol III. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC

  • Kanter RG (1979) Mussel community studies. In: Littler MM (ed) The distribution, abundance and community structure of rocky intertidal and tidepool biotas in the Southern California Bight. Southern California Baseline Study. Final Report, vol II. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC

  • Keough MJ, Quinn GP (1998) Effects of periodic disturbances from trampling on rocky intertidal algal beds. Ecol Appl 8:141–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Keough MJ, Quinn GP, King A (1993) Correlations between human collecting and intertidal mollusc populations on rocky shores. Conserv Biol 7:378–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kido JS, Murray SN (2003) Variation in owl limpet Lottia gigantea population structures, growth rates, and gonadal production on southern California rocky shores. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 257:111–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingsford MJ, Underwood AJ, Kennelly SJ (1991) Humans as predators on rocky reefs in New South Wales, Australia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 72:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Lasiak T (1991) The susceptibility and/or resilience of rocky littoral mollusks to stock depletion by the indigenous coastal people of Transkei, southern Africa. Biol Conserv 56:245–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavaniegos BE, Gómez-Gutiérrez J, Lara-Lara JR, Hernández-Vázquez S (1998) Long-term changes in zooplankton volumes in the California Current System—the Baja California region. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 169:55–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Littler MM, Littler DS (1985) Nondestructive sampling. In: Littler MM, Littler DS (eds) Handbook of phycological methods. Ecological field methods: macroalgae. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, pp 161–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubchenco J, Navarrete SA, Tissot BN, Castilla JC (1993) Possible ecological responses to global climate change: nearshore benthic biota of Northeastern Pacific coastal systems. In: Money HA, Fuentes ER, Kronberg BI (eds) Earth systems response to global change. Contrasts between North and South America. Academic, San Diego, pp 147–166

  • McCook L, Chapman ARO (1991) Community succession following massive ice-scour on an exposed shore: effects of Fucus canopy algae and of mussels during late succession. J Exp Biol Ecol 154:137–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan A, Lombard HW (1981) Growth and production in exploited and unexploited populations of a rocky shore gastropod, Turbo sarmaticus. Veliger 23:221–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Menge BA, Sutherland JP (1987) Community regulation: variation in disturbance, competition, and predation in relation to environmental stress and recruitment. Am Nat 130:730–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray SN (1998) Effectiveness of marine life refuges on southern California shores. In: Magoon OT, Converse H, Baird B, Miller-Henson M (eds) California and the World Ocean ‘97. Taking a look at California’s ocean resources an agenda for the future. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Va, pp 1453–1465

  • Murray SN, Denis TG (1997) Vulnerability of the rockweed Pelvetia compressa to anthropogenic disturbance on southern California rocky shores. Phycologia 36:75–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray SN, Denis TG, Kido JS, Smith JR (1999) Human visitation and the frequency and potential effects of collecting on rocky intertidal populations in southern California marine reserves. CalCOFI Rep 40:100–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Olivia D, Castilla JC (1986) The effects of human exclusion on the population structure of key-hole limpets Fisurella crassa and F. limbata on the coast of central Chile. Mar Ecol 7:201–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortega S (1987) The effect of human predation on the size distribution of Siphonaria gigas (Mollusca: Pulmonata) on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Veliger 29:251–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine RT (1974) Intertidal community structure: experimental studies on the relationship between a dominant competitor and its principal predator. Oecologia 15:93–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paine RT (1989) On commercial exploitation of the sea mussel, Mytilus californianus. NW Environ J 5:89–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine RT, Levin SA (1981) Intertidal landscapes: disturbance and the dynamics of pattern. Ecol Monogr 51:145–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy WG, Schoener A (1987) Changes in the marine biota coincident with the 1982–1983 El Niño in the northeastern subarctic Pacific Ocean. J Geophys Res 92:14417–14428

    Google Scholar 

  • Pombo OA, Escofet A (1996) Effect of exploitation on the limpet Lottia gigantea: a field study in Baja California (México) and California (USA). Pac Sci 50:393–403

    Google Scholar 

  • Povey A, Keough MJ (1991) Effects of trampling on plant and animal populations on rocky shores. Oikos 61:355–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Raimondi PT, Ambrose RF, Engle JM, Murray SN, Wilson M (1999) Monitoring of rocky intertidal resources along the central and southern California mainland. 3-Year Report for San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Orange Counties (Fall 1995-Spring 1998). OCS Study, MMS 99-0032, U.S. Dept. of Interior, Minerals Management Service, Pacific OCS Region

  • Ricketts EF, Calvin J, Hedgpeth JW, Phillips DW (1985) Between Pacific Tides, 5th edn. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif

  • Robles C (1996) Managing recovery rates of mussel beds in the Southern California Bight. Prepared for The Damage Assessment Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Long Beach, Calif

  • Schiel DR, Taylor DI (1999) Effects of trampling on a rocky intertidal algal assemblage in southern New Zealand. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 235:213–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seymour R (1996) Wave climate variability in southern California. J Waterw Port Coast Ocean Eng 122:182–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharpe AK, Keough MJ (1998) An investigation of the indirect effects of intertidal shellfish collection. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 223:19–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JR (2002) The effects of bait collection and trampling on Mytilus californianus communities in the southern California intertidal zone. MS Thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton

  • Sousa WP (1984) Intertidal mosaics: patch size, propagule availability, and spatially variable patterns of succession. Ecology 65:1918–1935

    Google Scholar 

  • Straughan D (1978) Analysis of mussel (Mytilus californianus) communities in areas chronically exposed to natural oil seepage. American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC

  • Straughan D, Kanter R (1977) Mussel community study. In: Littler MM (ed) Spatial and temporal variations in the distribution and abundance of rocky intertidal and tidepool biotas in the Southern California Bight. Southern California Baseline Study. Final Report, vol III. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC

  • Suchanek TH (1979) The Mytilus californianus community: studies on the composition, structure, organization, and dynamics of a mussel bed. PhD Thesis, University of Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchanek TH (1981) The role of disturbance in the evolution of life history strategies in the intertidal mussels Mytilus edulis and Mytilus californianus. Oecologia 50:143–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VanBlaricom GR (1987) Regulation of mussel population structure in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Natl Geogr Res 3:501–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Witman JD (1983) The importance of competition, physical disturbance, and mutualism in maintaining the depth zonation of kelp and mussels. Am Zool 23:1001

    Google Scholar 

  • Witman JD, Suchanek TH (1984) Mussels in flow: drag and dislodgment by epizoans. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 16:259–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Wynberg RP, Branch GM (1994) Disturbance associated with bait-collection for sandprawns (Callianassa kraussi ) and mud-prawns (Upogebia africana ): long-term effects on the biota of intertidal sandflats. J Mar Res 52:523–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wynberg RP, Branch GM (1997) Trampling associated with bait-collection for sandprawns Callianassa kraussi Stebbing: effects on the biota of an intertidal sandflat. Environ Conserv 24:139–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zedler JB (1978) Public use effects in the Cabrillo National Monument intertidal zone. Project Report of the U.S. Dept. of Interior, National Park Service

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the field assistance of several individuals, most notably Paul Denis, Teri Denis, Janine Kido, and Jill Moeller. We would also like to thank C. Eugene Jones and Roger Seapy for their constructive suggestions and edits, and Kelly Donovan for preparation of figures. We are grateful to the Monarch Bay Community and Beach Club (Monarch Bay) for facilitating access to the study site. This study was funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce under Grant NA 46 RG 0472. We are also grateful for funding provided by the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and the Coastal Marine Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara. Additional financial support was provided by the California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Department of Biological Science and the CSUF Departmental Associated Council. J.R.S. is grateful to the University of Southern California Sea Grant Program for supporting his work as a Sea Grant trainee. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or MMS or any of its subagencies.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Jayson R. Smith

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Dr., South Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Science, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92834-6850, USA

    Jayson R. Smith & Steven N. Murray

Authors
  1. Jayson R. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven N. Murray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jayson R. Smith.

Additional information

Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Smith, J.R., Murray, S.N. The effects of experimental bait collection and trampling on a Mytilus californianus mussel bed in southern California. Marine Biology 147, 699–706 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-1619-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-1619-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation