MEPS

Marine Ecology Progress Series

MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.

Online: ISSN 1616-1599

Print: ISSN 0171-8630

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps

Impact Factor2.1 (JCR 2025 release)

Article Acceptance Rate52.2% (2024)

Average Time in Review216 days (2024)

Total Annual Downloads2.893.837 (2025)

Volume contents
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 275:33-45 (2004)

Multitrophic interactions mediate recruitment variability in a rocky intertidal community

ABSTRACT: Environmentally induced variability in recruitment rates can result in population variability in both space and time. However, fluctuations in population sizes are also governed by species interactions. While both these processes have beenwidely explored, fewer efforts have been made to investigate their combined effects. The goal of this study was to investigate how environmentally induced recruitment variability combines with species interactions to influence the structure and dynamicsof a simple multi-trophic rocky intertidal community. We first simulated spatial differences and temporal fluctuations in larval supply and subsequent recruitment, and found that the effects of temporal variability on community stability depended onspatial differences in mean larval supply. Next, we explored how removal of specific species influenced these patterns. These simulations showed that predatory and competitive interactions can have contrasting effects on community stability in response torecruitment variability, which depend on the life history of the predator. Our results show the difficulty of isolating questions of community response to spatial and temporal recruitment variability from each other or from a consideration of communitystructure in general.

KEYWORDS

Samantha E. Forde (Corresponding Author)
forde@biology.ucsc.edu

Daniel F. Doak (Co-author)