DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF INTERTIDAL SPECIES IN

DIFFERENT TIDE POOL ELEVATIONS Femi Adegbidi, Brittany Cain , Ally Pennell,

Melanie Hogan, Louise-Marie Roux

The Rocky Intertidal

Unique environment with fluctuating physical factors

Physical transition zone

Diverse zones with various species

Fluctuating habitats

Tide Pools

Fluctuating environments

Tides Physical factors

Temperature Salinity Oxygen

concentration

Tide Pool Composition

High Elevations High salinity Temperature changes

Low Elevations More water Oxygen Poor at dealing with

fluctuations

Effect of elevation on species diversity and organismal composition in tide pools

Hypotheses Medium-Low height tide pools greater diversity

and richness Organisms found will be similar to those defined in

the intertidal zonation theory Tide pools at similar elevations will be more similar

to each other

Objective

Bay of Fundy

St. Andrew’s, NB World’s highest tides Ideal site for

intertidal research

2 sites Indian Point- uniform, sandy substrate, Green’s Point- steep, rocky

4 tide pools per site

Sampling Sites

30 cm2 quadrat

Surveyor’s transit

Organisms collected and identified

Sampling Methods

Dichotomous key for species identification

Diversity indexes Sorensen’s similarity index

Simpson’s diversity index

Data Analysis

Lowest Tide Pool

Common Species: Greens Point

Organisms0

102030405060708090

100

IV

Littorina littoreaLittorina obtusataMya arenariaAnomia aculeataMytilus edulisPlacopecten magellanicusGammarus ocean-icusGammarus tigrinis

Tota

l Cou

nt

Organisms0

5

10

15

20

25

I

Cystoclonium purpureumMytilus edulisLaminaria saccharinaLittorina littoreaLittorina obtusataAcmaea testudinalisBuccinum undataumFucus spiralis

Tota

l Cou

nt

Highest Tide Pool

Common Species: Indians Point

Organisms0

20

40

60

80

100

120II

Littorina littoreaLittorina obtusataMya arenariaMytilus edulisSemibalanus balanusAcmaea testudinalisTo

tal C

ount

Species Richness

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Indian PointLinear (Indian Point)Green's PointLinear (Green's Point)

Height (m)

Spec

ies R

ichn

ess

Species Diversity

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 30

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Green's PointLinear (Green's Point)Indian PointLinear (Indian Point)

Height (m)

Sim

pson

's In

dex

Tide Pool Elevation Similarity

Organisms that can cope with frequent disturbance are found in tide pools at higher elevations

Organisms that require more water and oxygen in tide pools at lower elevations

Sampling methods may have missed microscopic organisms Changing diversity

Conclusions

THANK YOU!