Life history of the sandhopper Pseudorchestoidea brasiliensis…沙翅螟的生活史.pdfVIP

MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Vol. 182: 209-220,1999 Published June 11 Mar Ecol Prog Ser l Life history of the sandhopper Pseudorchestoidea brasiliensis (Amphipoda) in sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics Julio Gomez, Omar Defeo* UNDECIMAR, Facultad de Ciencias, Igua 4225, PO Box 10773,11400 Montevideo. Uruguay and Institute Nacional de Pesca, Constituyente 1497, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay ABSTRACT: Exposed marine beaches are physically rigorous habitats in which macrofauna cornmu- nity patterns are related to physical factors such as sedimentary parameters and wave/swash pro- cesses. In this context, a consistent increase in species richness, abundance and biomass from reflectwe to dissipative conditions has been widely reported, and proposed as a paradigm of sandy beach ecol- ogy. Here, we examine this hypothesis on the demography and life history characteristics of the sand- hopper Pseudorchestoidea brasiliensis of Uruguay. Abundance, population structure by sex and size, individual growth, natural mortality, fecundity, female maturity and size at maturity, and the length- weight relationship were compared between populations of 2 microtidal exposed sandy beaches that differed widely in physical characteristics (i.e. grain size, slope, penetrability and water content), dur- ing 20 consecutive months. Contrasting with the predi