Microphytobenthos in Constrasting Coastal Ecosystems: Biology and Dynamics

Abstract

The rocky intertidal foreshore has long been an area intensely studied by ecologists, and the contrasts found between relative heights on the shore and between shores of different aspects have developed into a series of classical studies that outline the nature of the forces (exposure, competition, grazing) that dominate rocky shore ecology (Raffaelli and Hawkins 1996). These hard shores have natural advantages for scientists interested in intertidal ecology: they are usually accessible; the sessile organisms are easily observed; and the shores are relatively stable. However, the contrasts between sandy (noncohesive) and muddy (cohesive) shores are equally of interest, although the shore themselves present more of a logistic challenge and hence contrasting accounts of the shores are less generally available. Also, except in the specialised circumstance of sea grass meadows and mangals, the primary producers (microphytobenthos) that dominate depositional systems are far less obvious than the intertidal macro algae found on hard substrata. The following chapter addresses some of the differences found between sandy and muddy shores with emphasis on the dominant microphytobenthos.