Larval settlement in the fouling polychaete Hydroides elegans Haswell (1883) is mediated by natural biofilms, a complex consortium of marine bacteria, benthic diatoms, protozoa, fungi and adsorbed organic matter. Currently, the inductive effect of natural biofilms on larval settlement is attributed to the bacterial component. In this paper, we present results of an investigation of the diatom c...

Following a planktonic dispersal period of days to months, the larvae of benthic marine organisms must locate suitable seafloor habitat in which to settle and metamorphose. For animals that are sessile or sedentary as adults, settlement onto substrates that are adequate for survival and reproduction is particularly critical, yet represents a challenge since patchily distributed settlement sites...

The dynamic nature of loads, seasonal variation of soil properties, uneven soil strata below footings or inappropriate design of foundation makes differential settlement inevitable. Differential settlement is largely responsible for developing forces or changing the existing forces in the structure and is often considered as the underlying cause of many structural failures. A structural enginee...

For sessile organisms, dispersal and recruitment are typically spatially stochastic, but there is little understanding of how this variability scales up to influence processes such as competitive coexistence. Here we argue that coexistence of benthic marine animals is enhanced by stochastic differences between species in the spatial distribution of larval settlement. Differentiation of settleme...

Metamorphosis from a pelagic to a benthic stage is a critical transition in the life cycle of sessile marine invertebrates. The barnacle Semibalanus balanoides attaches permanently during settlement, and once attached, its gross location in the adult habitat is fixed. The partitioning of benthic habitat among barnacles in a recruit cohort is often mediated by settlement timing because early set...

In sessile marine invertebrates, larval settlement is fundamental to population maintenance and persistence. Cues contributing to the settlement choices and metamorphosis of larvae have important implications for the success of individuals and populations, but cues mediating larval settlement for many marine invertebrates are largely unknown. This study assessed larval settlement in two common ...

Coral populations, and the productive reef ecosystems they support, rely on successful recruitment of reef-building species, beginning with settlement of dispersing larvae into habitat favourable to survival. Many substrate cues have been identified as contributors to coral larval habitat selection; however, the potential for ambient acoustic cues to influence coral settlement responses is unkn...

We present a spatial interaction entropy maximizing and structural dynamics model of settlements from the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and Iron Ages (IA) in the Khabur Triangle (KT) region within Syria. The model addresses factors that make locations attractive for trade and settlement, affecting settlement growth and change. We explore why some sites become relatively major settlements, while other...

Several recent ®eld studies have found disproportionately high barnacle settlement rates (expressed on a per-area basis) in situations where the amount of suitable substrate is reduced, either due to occupation by other individuals or to physical processes. We call this phenomenon the intensi®cation e€ect; it is not included in many models of benthic populations, which assume that the per-area ...