Populations of intertidal species span a steep environmental gradient driven by differences in emersion time. In spite of strong differential selection on traits related to this gradient, the small spatial scale over which differences occur may prevent local adaptation, and instead may favor a single intermediate phenotype, or nongenetic mechanisms of differentiation. Here I examine whether a c...

Natural ecosystems can show regular spatial vegetation patterns, which develop from small-scale ecological interactions. Some studies suggest that grazers can play a major role in controlling vegetation distribution in ecosystems with regular vegetation patterns, but the distribution of grazers and the effects of grazing on vegetation in spatially patterned ecosystems remains poorly understood....

In lizards, one of the most important behavioral mechanisms to cope with spatial and temporal variations in thermal resources observed is activity time. The longer a lizard can maintain activity, the more time it has to forage and reach larger adult body size. We studied the behavioral adjustments to different climatic regimens on daily and seasonal scales in three natural populations of the li...

Increased tourist activity in coastal regions demands management strategies to reduce impacts on rocky shores. The highly populated coastal areas in southeastern Brazil are an example of degradation caused by development of industry and tourism. Among different shore impacts, trampling has been intensively studied, and may represent a significant source of stress for intertidal fauna. A randomi...

Continuous chemical pollution is one of the most serious environmental problems in the Jiaojiang Estuary of the East Sea (China). This chemical pollution has significantly changed the estuarine environmental conditions and may have profoundly influenced the distribution of anammox bacterial communities in this estuary. Here, we investigated the influence of chemical pollution on the community c...

Animal physiology, ecology and evolution are affected by temperature and it is expected that community structure will be strongly influenced by global warming. This is particularly relevant in the tropics, where organisms are already living close to their upper temperature limits and hence are highly vulnerable to rising temperature. Here we present data on upper temperature limits of 34 tropic...

The large marine pachypleurosaur sauropterygian Serpianosaurus germanicus nov. spec., representing the oldest well known record of this genus from the Pelsonian, is introduced based on a postcranial skeleton. Of younger age are the Serpianosaurus mirigolensis (Rieppel, 1989) specimens from the Illyrian/Fassanian boundary (Grenzbitumen Bed) of the northwestern Tethys (Monte San Giorgio). Additio...

Even in nitrogen-replete ecosystems, microhabitats exist where local-scale nutrient limitation occurs. For example, coastal waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean are characterized by high nitrate concentrations associated with upwelling. However, macroalgae living in high-zone tide pools on adjacent rocky shores are isolated from this upwelled nitrate for extended periods of time, leading to...

Epidemiological theory suggests that pathogens will not cause host extinctions because agents of disease should fade out when the host population is driven below a threshold density. Nevertheless, infectious diseases have threatened species with extinction on local scales by maintaining high incidence and the ability to spread efficiently even as host populations decline. Intertidal black abalo...

We present a Markov chain model of succession in a rocky subtidal community based on a long-term (1986-1994) study of subtidal invertebrates (14 species) at Ammen Rock Pinnacle in the Gulf of Maine. The model describes successional processes (disturbance, colonization, species persistence, and replacement), the equilibrium (stationary) community, and the rate of convergence. We described succes...