TY - JOUR
T1 - Intertidal zonation and key-species associations of the flat rocky shores of sinai, used for scaling environmental variables affecting cerithiid gastropods
AU - Safriel, Safriel U.N.
AU - Ayal, Yoram
PY - 1980/1/1
Y1 - 1980/1/1
N2 - Horizontal and near-horizontal rocky platforms at about mean sea level dominate a significant portion of the Sinai Red Sea rocky coasts. Four key-environmental variables govern the distribution of cerithiid gastropods (ptobably many other species as well) on the platforms' surfaces: wave exposure, fluctuations in moisture, temperature and salinity and presence of sediment and its depth and sediment movement. These variables are interdependent and difficult to assess directly, but, being associated with other easily observable environmental features, they can be indirectly determined. In spite of differences in species richness and diversity and the degree of patchiness between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Elat, the universal scheme of intertidal zonation could be commonly applied to both gulfs. Within this scheme, key-species associations were consistently associated each with a specific segment of the gradients formed by the four environmental variables. As a result, a system for scaling these variables with the aid of keyspecies associations is proposed.
AB - Horizontal and near-horizontal rocky platforms at about mean sea level dominate a significant portion of the Sinai Red Sea rocky coasts. Four key-environmental variables govern the distribution of cerithiid gastropods (ptobably many other species as well) on the platforms' surfaces: wave exposure, fluctuations in moisture, temperature and salinity and presence of sediment and its depth and sediment movement. These variables are interdependent and difficult to assess directly, but, being associated with other easily observable environmental features, they can be indirectly determined. In spite of differences in species richness and diversity and the degree of patchiness between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Elat, the universal scheme of intertidal zonation could be commonly applied to both gulfs. Within this scheme, key-species associations were consistently associated each with a specific segment of the gradients formed by the four environmental variables. As a result, a system for scaling these variables with the aid of keyspecies associations is proposed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=36249011424&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00212210.1980.10688488
DO - 10.1080/00212210.1980.10688488
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:36249011424
SN - 0021-2210
VL - 29
SP - 110
EP - 124
JO - Israel Journal of Zoology
JF - Israel Journal of Zoology
IS - 1-3
ER -