Effects of Physical Dimensions on Tide Pool Diversity

Effects of Physical Dimensions on Tide Pool Diversity Jessica Allen, Celine Morais, Hilary Mann, Erika McLellan, and Sydney Bliss

Tide Pool - Community Structure  Species differ in diversity and abundance between the rocky

intertidal and tide pools, largely due to the physical and biological regimes of each  Fluctuation of physical factors is smaller in tide pools that the

general intertidal (allowing vertical ranges of species to extend higher)  Conversely, biological interactions (ex. grazing and

predation) are intensified in tide pools

 Communities are often patchy and somewhat

unpredictable  Some species are residents, some and

transients, some are accidental visitors  There are strong associations between a pool’s

physical size and its community structure

Tide Pools – Physical Factors  Main factor dictating species diversity in a tide pool  Ex. temperature, salinity, wave and splash exposure, degree

of shading, volume  The intensity of these is largely dictated by pool shape and

depth  Fluctuate vertically, horizontally, diurnally and seasonally

 Thus, each pool has a unique physical regime that

largely determines community structure  Many studies have shown that the number of species

present in a pool is associated with pool depth and volume  Ex. deeper pools may support more plant and

invertebrate species

 Our study attempted determine if the physical

dimensions of a tide pool affect the diversity of organisms within it, as previous studies have  Null hypothesis = the physical dimensions of a tide pool

have no affect on species diversity within them  Alternate hypothesis = the physical dimensions of a tide

pool have an affect on species diversity within them

Methods  Measuring abiotic factors  Sampled and recorded species within quadrates or entire tide

pool  Species were collected for identification

Results

Figure 1. The effect of tide pool size on diversity at a) Indian Point and b) Green’s Point.

Discussion  Ho: Physical dimensions of the tide pools would

have no effect on the species diversity found within these pools  Metaxas and Scheibling, 1993; Mahon and

Mahon, 1994  Area, volume, and species diversity

Factors that could explain discrepancies in the findings  Cold weather  Season  Sample size  Wave action and intertidal profile  Size of tide pools sampled  Omitted depths of tide pools from our calculations

Future Studies  Larger sample sizes  More time needed

 Greater range of tide pools  Sampling at more locations  Accurate methods of measurement  Salinity and Oxygen

 Gather information at different times of day and seasons  Limited due to tides