The difference in habitat elevations between Littorina littorea and Littorina obtusata in the Rocky Intertidal
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Abstract:
This website is the result of a class offered at Clark University, called the Ecology of Atlantic shores. We took several trips to the rocky intertidal in Nahant, Massachusetts. In that time, I noticed a plethora of snails in the intertidal. In our first class trip to Nahant, we sampled different elevations for densities of Littorina littorea. There is a great deal of literature supporting the idea that L. littorea displaced other snails, specifically Littorina saxatilis to higher elevations in the intertidal. This led me to wonder if possibly the snails all had specific habitats within the intertidal. I then began to study the habitats of the two different species of snails, Littorina littorea and Littorina obtusata. In order to test the idea that the two snails live at different elevations, I randomly sampled quadrats at various elevations throughout the intertidal and recorded the number of snails in each elevation. We visited Nahant on October 15, 2004, October 27, 2004, and November 12, 2004. Through the data I gathered during these trips I found Littorina littorea are generally found at lower elevations and Littorina obtusata are generally found at mid elevations.
*Special thanks to Prof. Deb Robertson, Prof. Todd Livdahl, TA Camilo Khatchikian, and my classmates: Alexis Messler, Brigham Whitman, Chelsea Kammerer Burnham, David Siegel, Heather Richard, Judd Curtis, Jarad Goldberg, Katie Brown, Kate Hartman, Mariette Connelly, Meghan Massaua, and Nilufer Rahmioglu, who have helped me with this project.
Other experiments from this class can be found at http://www.clarku.edu/departments/biology/biol201
As a group, we also traveled to Bermuda to conduct research and stayed at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. This website can be found at http://www.bbsr.edu/
Site updated on 12/03/04
The Rocky Intertidal: Nahant, MA
Information for educational purposes only. All images on this page copyrighted by Judd Curtis© 2004