Title: Epiphytes on the rocky intertidal red alga RhodomelaLarix (Turner) C. Agardh: Negative effects on the host and food for herbivores?
Abstract: The diversity of epiflora and fauna associated with a dominant turf-forming alga was examined in intertidal communities on the central Oregon coast. Epiphytes associated with the red alga, Rhodomelalarix (Turner) C. Agardh, were examined by surveying intertidal areas for the presence of epiphytes, and by following changes in epiphyte cover in marked quadrats of R. larix. The alga is host for at least 17 species of sessile plants and animals. To determine the role of some of the larger epiphytes in the community, Rhodomela plants were marked and monitored and herbivore feeding was examined. Data suggest that epiphytes decrease the growth rate of their host, increase the probability of axis breakage and decrease reproductive output. Epiphytes provide food for littorine snails and gammarid amphipods that live in the beds of the plant. Amphipods were found to decrease epiphyte cover on R. larix in laboratory tanks, suggesting that these herbivores may have beneficial effects on the host plant.
Publication Year: 1985
Publication Date: 1985-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 170
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