Occupation of patches in the epifaunal communities on pier pilings and the bivalve Pinna bicolor at Edithburgh, South Australia

Abstract

The reoccupation of artificially cleared patches in a subtidal epifaunal community was investigated in two field experiments on the pilings of Edithburgh pier, South Austrlia. In most cases, the greatest proportion of the patch was reoccupied by the vegetative extension of established sponge and tunicate colonies adjacent to it. Larval recruitment by sponges, bryozoans, tunicates and serpulids contributed to the reoccupation but resulted in only a small proportion of the mean percentage cover. The relative abundances of individual species established in any patch were shown to be a function of the (1) position in space, (2) age, (3) time of creation, (4) initial size of the patch. There was ..