ABSTRACT: Effects of Chondruscrispus on recruitment of Fucus were examined in order to test the proposition that this red turfing alga is able to exclude fucoids from the low zone of wave-exposed shores in Nova Scotia, Canada. F. evanescens zygotes were released on experimental plots where Chondrus presence was manipulated. Grazers were excluded and not treated as an experimental factor. Initial settlement density of F. evanescens was enhanced by presence of crustose holdfasts and canopy of Chondrus, and reduced on sandblasted bare rock. However, subsequent survival and growth of fucoid germlings were heavily suppressed when Chondrus was present. A fucoid canopy established only on bare rock.

KEY WORDS: Chondrus crispus · Fucus evanescens · Interference competition · Recruitment · Rocky shore · Zonation

Published in MEPS Vol. 145 (1996) on December 31
ISSN: 0171-8630. Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 1996