Environmental Instability and Demographic Variability in Acrocnida brachiata (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) in Douarnenez Bay (Brittany: France)
- Resource Type
- Authors
- M. Glémarec; M. Guillou; A. Bourgoin
- Source
- Marine Ecology. 12:89-104
- Subject
- Disturbance (geology)
Ecology
Intertidal zone
Aquatic Science
Biology
Seasonality
medicine.disease
biology.organism_classification
Population density
Oceanography
Acrocnida brachiata
medicine
Bay
Amphiura filiformis
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Demographic structure
- Language
- ISSN
- 1439-0485
0173-9565
The recruitment and growth modalities of two populations of Acrocnida brachiata (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the intertidal and from a depth of 20 m in Douarnenez Bay (Brittany) were compared. This study was conducted in order to establish whether the populations developed differently according to environmental stability. The results were compared with those found in another amphiurid, Amphiura filiformis, distributed along a similar gradient of disturbance in the subtidal zone. The purpose was to determine whether the biological parameters from different species vary in a similar manner along such a gradient and. if not, what is the role of biotic and physical factors in the control of demographic structure in intertidal and subtidal populations.