| Contents Notes |
The setting. Continental drift and the age of the east coast ; Sea level change ; Winter ice ; Barrier islands ; Species origins and invasions ; Introduced species ; Tides ; Waves and water movement ; Waves hitting the shore ; Effects of shoreline topography on waves ; Wave effects on shorelines ; Water movement ; Summary ; Further reading -- The economy of the shoreline : the production and consumption of resources. Primary productivity ; Bottom-up control of shoreline communities ; Top-down control of shorelines communities ; Consumer feeding strategies ; Foraging decisions ; Prey defenses ; Summary ; Further reading -- Reproduction and recruitment of shoreline organisms. Fertilization ; Types of development ; Problems facing planktonic larvae ; Factors regulating the recruitment of planktonic larvae ; Population and community effects of variable larval supply ; Summary ; Further reading -- Process and pattern in shoreline communities. Zonation ; Competitive interactions ; Positive interactions ; Consumer effects ; Interactions among the forces that shape shoreline communities ; Natural disturbance processes ; Mechanisms of secondary succession ; Ecosystem engineering ; Summary ; Further reading -- Rocky shores. Rocky intertidal algae ; Rocky intertidal herbivores ; Predators on rocky shores ; Stresses in rocky intertidal habitats ; Zonation ; Conservation issues ; Summary ; Further reading -- Soft-sediment habitats. The physical habitat ; Tidal flat organisms ; Zonation in intertidal soft-substrate habitats ; Ecosystem engineering in soft-sediment habitats ; Conservation concerns ; Summary ; Further reading -- Salt marsh and mangrove communities. Marsh development ; Marsh plant zonation ; Physical stresses on marsh plants ; Competition among marsh plants ; Positive feedback in marsh plant communities ; Consumer control in salt marsh systems ; Disturbance in marsh plant communities ; Secondary succession in marsh plant communities ; Marsh production and its effect on estuarine habitats ; Animals of salt marshes ; Predators ; Marshes as nursery grounds ; Marsh conservation ; Mangrove forests ; Summary ; Further reading. "The book provides a comprehensive background for understanding the basic principles of intertidal ecology and the unique conditions faced by intertidal organisms. It describes the history of the Atlantic Coast, tides, and near-shore oceanographic processes that influence shoreline organisms; explains primary production in shoreline systems, intertidal food webs, and the way intertidal organisms survive; sets out the unusual reproductive challenges of living in an intertidal habitat, and the role of recruitment in shaping intertidal communities; and outlines how biological processes like competition, predation, facilitation, and ecosystem engineering generate the spatial structure of intertidal communities. The last part of the book focuses on the ecology of the three main shoreline habitats--rocky shores, soft sediment beaches, and shorelines vegetated with salt marsh plants and mangroves--and discusses in detail conservation issues associated with each of them."--From publisher description. |
