Salinity controls rocky intertidal community structure via suppression of herbivory.

ABSTRACT: Climate change impacts ecosystems directly through differences in species-specific responses as well as indirectly through changes to the strength of species interactions. To predict how species will be impacted by ongoing environmental change, we need to better understand the relative roles of these direct and indirect effects. Salinity is a strong driver of ecological patterns and processes, and salinity regimes in coastal regions are expected to be altered by climate change through the intensification of the hydrological cycle and via climate-driven shifts in the timing and strength of the spring freshet. We hypothesized that hyposalinity can indirectly affect the intertidal community by excluding a dominant guild of herbivores, limpets in the genus Lottia. To test this hypothesis, we (

SUBMITTER: Coyle T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12683622 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature