Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Determinants of reproductive potential and population size in open populations of Patella vulgata

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The importance of external and internal population processes in determining variation in reproductive output and variation in population size were quantified with model simulations for open populations of the sequentially hermaphroditic limpet Patella vulgata using field data from the Isle of Man and South West Ireland. Cross-correlation analyses of model outputs and elasticity analyses show that population dynamics are dominated by the effects of large females, and that recruitment adds little to reproductive output. However, populations experiencing low but highly variable recruitment appear male limited and recruitment pulses carrying young males into the population are correlated to reproductive output with a 2–5-year lag. We conclude that pulses in recruitment can be a major structuring force in these limpet populations, but site-specific post-recruitment processes will determine the relative importance of recruitment to population dynamics and the lag between recruitment and reproductive output.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ballantine WJ (1961) The population dynamics of Patella vulgata and other limpets. Dissertation. University of London, UK

  • Boaventura D, da Fonseca LC, Hawkins SJ (2002) Analysis of competitive interactions between the limpets Patella depressa Pennant and Patella vulgata L. on the northern coast of Portugal. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 271:171–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boaventura D, da Fonseca LC, Hawkins SJ (2003) Size matters: competition within populations of the limpet Patella depressa. J Anim Ecol 72(3):435–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman RS, Lewis JR (1977) Annual fluctuations in the recruitment of Patella vulgata L. J Mar Biol Ass UK 57:793–815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burrows MT, Hawkins SJ (1998) Modelling patch dynamics on rocky shores using deterministic cellular automata. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 167:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caley MJ, Carr MH, Hixon MA, Hughes TP, Jones GP, Menge BA (1996) Recruitment and the local dynamics of open marine populations. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 27:477–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caswell H (2001) Matrix population models: construction, analysis, and interpretation. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatfield C (1999) The analysis of time series—an introduction, 5th edn. Chapman & Hall, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman RA, Underwood AJ, Benedetti-Cecchi L, Aberg P, Arenas F, Arrontes J, Castro J, Hartnoll RG, Jenkins SR, Paula J, Della Santina P, Hawkins SJ (2006) A continental scale evaluation of the role of limpet grazing on rocky shores. Oecologia 147:556–564

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cowen RK, Sponaugle S (2009) Larval dispersal and marine population connectivity. Annu Rev Mar Sci 1:443–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowen RK, Paris CB, Srinivasan A (2006) Scaling of connectivity in marine populations. Science 311:522–527

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Creese RG, Underwood AJ (1982) Analysis of inter- and intra-specific competition amongst intertidal limpets with different methods of feeding. Oecologia 53:337–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies AJ, Johnson MP, Maggs CA (2007) Limpet grazing and loss of Ascophyllum nodosum canopies on decadal time scales. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 339:131–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delany J, Myers AA, McGrath D (1998) Recruitment, immigration and population structure of two coexisting limpet species in mid-shore tidepools, on the West Coast of Ireland. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 221:221–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon PA, Milicich MJ, Sugihara G (1999) Episodic fluctuations in larval supply. Science 283:1528–1530

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodd JM (1957) Artificial fertilisation, larval development and metamorphosis in Patella vulgata L. and Patella coerulea L. Pubbl Stn Zool Napoli 29:172–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty PJ, Williams DM (1988) The replenishment of coral-reef fish populations. Oceano Mar Biol 26:487–551

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartnoll RG, Wright JR (1977) Foraging movements and homing in the limpet Patella vulgata L. Anim Behav 25:806–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins SJ, Kain JM, Hartnoll RG, Norton TA (1992) Plant-animal interactions on hard substrata in the north-east Atlantic. In: John DM, Hawkins SJ, Price JH (eds) Plant-animal interactions in the marine benthos. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 1–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Moltschaniwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Willis BL (1999) Patterns of recruitment and abundance of corals along the Great Barrier Reef. Nature 397:59–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Moltschaniwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Willis BL (2000) Supply-side ecology works both ways: the link between benthic adults, fecundity, and larval recruits. Ecology 81:2241–2249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins SR (2005) Larval habitat selection, not larval supply, determines settlement patterns and adult distribution in two chthamalid barnacles. J Anim Ecol 74:893–904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins SR, Hartnoll RG (2001) Food supply, grazing activity and growth rate in the limpet Patella vulgata L.: a comparison between exposed and sheltered shores. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 258:123–139

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins SR, Aberg P, Cervin G, Coleman RA, Delany J, Della Santina P, Hawkins SJ, LaCroix E, Myers AA, Lindegarth M, Power AM, Roberts MF, Hartnoll RG (2000) Spatial and temporal variation in settlement and recruitment of the intertidal barnacle Semibalanus balanoides (L.) (Crustacea : Cirripedia) over a European scale. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 243:209–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins SR, Coleman RA, Della Santina P, Hawkins SJ, Burrows MT, Hartnoll RG (2005) Regional scale differences in the determinism of grazing effects in the rocky intertidal. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 287:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MP (2005) Is there confusion over what is meant by ‘open population’? Hydrobiologia 544:333–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MP, Burrows MT, Hawkins SJ (1998) Individual based simulations of the direct and indirect effects of limpets on a rocky shore Fucus mosaic. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 169:179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Quesne WJF, Hawkins SJ (2006) Direct observations of protandrous sex change in the patellid limpet Patella vulgata. J Mar Biol Ass UK 86(1):161–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis JR, Bowman RS (1975) Local habitat-induced variations in the population dynamics of Patella vulgata L. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 17:165–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orton JH, Southward AJ, Dodd JM (1956) Studies on the biology of limpets II. The breeding of Patella vulgata L. in Britain. J Mar Biol Ass UK 35:149–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pineda J, Starczak V, Stueckle TA (2006) Timing of successful settlement: demonstration of a recruitment window in the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 320:233–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyper BJ, Paterman RM (1998) Comparison of methods to account for autocorrelation in correlation analyses of fish data. Can J Fish Aqua Sci 55:2127–2140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roughgarden J, Iwasa Y, Baxter C (1985) Demographic theory for an open marine population with space-limited recruitment. Ecology 66:54–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandin SA, Pacala SW (2005) Demographic theory of coral reef fish populations with stochastic recruitment: comparing sources of population regulation. Am Nat 165:107–119

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt RJ, Holbrook SJ, Osenberg CW (1999) Quantifying the effects of multiple processes on local abundance: a cohort approach for open populations. Ecol Lett 2:294–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd SA, Partington D (1995) Studies on southern Australian abalone (Genus Haliotis). 16. Recruitment, habitat and stock relations. Mar Fresh Res 46:669–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd SA, Lowe D, Partington D (1992) Studies on southern Australian abalone (Genus Haliotis). 13. Larval dispersal and recruitment. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 164:247–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman MJ (1998) What can population genetics tell us about dispersal and biogeographic history of coral-reef fishes? Aus J Ecol 23:216–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Southward AJ, Southward EC (1978) Recolonization of rocky shores in Cornwall after use of toxic dispersants to clean up the Torrey Canyon spill. J Fish Res Bd Can 35:682–706

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundelöf A, Åberg P (2006) Birth functions in two-sex demographic models. Ecol Mod 193:787–795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swearer SE, Caselle JE, Lea DW, Warner RR (1999) Larval retention and recruitment in an island population of a coral-reef fish. Nature 402:799–802

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Werner FE, Cowen RK, Paris CB (2008) Coupled biological and physical models present capabilities and necessary developments for future studies of population connectivity. Oceanography 20:54–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Young CM (1990) Larval ecology of marine invertebrates: a sesquicentennial history. Ophelia 32:1–48

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was performed as a part of the project DELOS (EU EVK3-CT-2000-00041). Data were attained from EUROROCK (EU MAS3-CT95-0012). We would like to thank N. Jonzén for valuable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. SJH and SRT were supported by NERC grant in aid of the MBA and the Oceans 2025 programme.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Andreas Sundelöf

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Bergen, PO Box 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Ecology, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 461, 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Andreas Sundelöf, Carl J. Svensson & Per Åberg

  2. Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2PB, UK

    Stuart R. Jenkins & Stephen J. Hawkins

  3. Dove Marine Laboratory, School of Marine Science and Technology, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Cullercoats, North Shields, NE30 4PZ, UK

    Jane Delany

  4. School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5EY, UK

    Stuart R. Jenkins & Stephen J. Hawkins

Authors
  1. Andreas Sundelöf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stuart R. Jenkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carl J. Svensson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jane Delany
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen J. Hawkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Per Åberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Sundelöf.

Additional information

Communicated by M. A. Peck.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sundelöf, A., Jenkins, S.R., Svensson, C.J. et al. Determinants of reproductive potential and population size in open populations of Patella vulgata . Mar Biol 157, 779–789 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1361-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1361-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation