New Breakwater

While at John Brown’s Beach during a recent low tide series, I noticed a distinct contrast between the new addition to the breakwater and that which had been there a while. I guess I am not surprised that there are differences, but it was interesting to see just how easy it was to see them.

Questions:

  • Is green algae on the new breakwater the full compliment of green algae expected at those intertidal levels, or is it a reduced (or maybe even completely different) set of early colonizers that give way others that colonize later but are ultimately more competitive?
  • What factors effect how/when different seaweeds to colonize a new area?
  • Do early colonizers in some way ‘prepare’ the substrate for later arrivals?
  • What role does the fauna play in the establishment and/or maintenance of various species of marine algae?
  • What is a typical (if there is one) successional sequence for new intertidal habitat?

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