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Article: Intertidal mussel microclimates: predicting the body temperature of a sessile invertebrate.
- Article from:
- Ecological Monographs
- Article date:
- February 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Ecological Society of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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INTRODUCTION
Sessile organisms living in the marine intertidal must contend with highly variable and often extreme environmental conditions. Water motion from crashing waves exerts enormous forces upon organisms, and the risk of dislodgement from the substrate can be an important selective factor (e.g., Witman and Suchanek 1984, Denny et al. 1985, Gaylord et al. 1994, Denny 1995). Furthermore, most intertidal animals and algae are aerially exposed on a daily or twice-daily basis. As a result, intertidal organisms essentially live on the "edges" of both the terrestrial and marine environments, and must contend with the physical conditions of both. To ectotherms such ...