Population Ecology - Interactions in mussel beds
The spatial and temporal variability of the fauna associated with intertidal and subtidal mussel beds is described and the quantitative importance of physical factors, predation, and grazing on the population and community structure is experimentally analysed.
Sea stars Asterias rubens are important predators on mussel beds in the subtidal Wadden Sea. Adult ones feed on the mussels while juveniles consume the barnacle epigrowth of the mussels. Thus, the sea stars change the structure of the biotic community associated with subtidal mussel beds resulting in substantial differences between subtidal and intertidal mussel beds
On the sedimentary tidal flats of the Wadden Sea mussel beds provide the only major hard substrate for sessile animals and algae that need anchorage. Although mussel beds cover <1% of the tidal flats they are overgrown by an epibenthic community comprising > 80 species
Buschbaum C, Reise K (1999) Effects of barnacle epibionts on the periwinkle Littorina littorea (L.). Helgoland Mar Res 53: 56-61
Buschbaum C (2000) Muschelbänke im Wattenmeer - umkämpfter Siedlungsplatz von Algen und Tieren. Verh Ges Ökol 30:101
Buschbaum C (2001) Selective settlement of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides (L.) facilitates its growth and reproduction on mussel beds in the Wadden Sea. Helgol Mar Res 55: 128-134
Buschbaum C (2001) Direct and indirect effects of Littorina littorea (L.) on barnacles growing on mussel beds in the Wadden Sea. Hydrobiologia 440: 119-128 Buschbaum C, Saier B (2001) Growth of the mussel Mytilus edulis L. in the Wadden Sea affected by tidal emergence and barnacle epibionts. J Sea Res 45: 27-36 Saier B (2000) Age dependent zonation of the periwinkle Littorina littorea (L) in the Wadden Sea. Helgol Mar Res 54: 224-229