Urban structures provide new insights into interactions among grazers and habitat

A major challenge in ecology is to understand and predict consequences of environmental changes to biological assemblages. Urbanization and associated alteration and destruction of habitat cause profound changes in local biodiversity and the ecology of and interactions among organisms. This study tested hypotheses about interactions among intertidal species on urbanized shores to examine predictions from their known ecology. On natural shores, grazing limpets, Cellana tramoserica, outcompete the smaller limpets, Patelloida latistrigata. The latter shelter among barnacles. On seawalls in Sydney Harbour (Australia), P. latistrigata were found among and on oysters. C. tramoserica were found directly on walls where there were no oysters. To explain these observations, several models were proposed and tested by manipulative experiments in the field: (1) oysters provide habitat for P. latistrigata; (2) negative interactions with C. tramoserica cause P. latistrigata to move on and among oysters; and (3) in areas with oysters, space available for grazing is insufficient for C. tramoserica to survive well. The results showed that C. tramoserica had a negative impact on the survival of P. latistrigata, although not causing the latter to move onto oysters. The oysters directly and indirectly affected P. latistrigata. First, oysters provided habitat and increased survival of P. latistrigata. Second, oysters influenced the interaction between C. tramoserica and P. latistrigata. This "interaction modification" diminished the negative impact of C. tramoserica. The material used to construct a wall did not directly influence the distribution of the limpets. Maintaining oysters on seawalls is, however, important because of their direct and indirect effects on P. latistrigata. It was possible to predict some processes on urbanized shores from known ecology. Other processes could not be predicted, making it necessary to do experiments to understand how built structures influence biological assemblages. This research contributes to understanding how to conserve biodiversity in urban areas.