Florida Inlets and Intertidal Biofouling Communities

Abstract

This study reports on the identity and coverage of rocky intertidal species in the major inlets of Florida’s Atlantic coast. From north to south, these inlets are Fort George, St. Augustine, Ponce De Leon, Port Canaveral, Sebastian, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, Lake Worth, Boca Raton, Port Everglades, Baker’s Haulover, and Port of Miami. Dominant coverage in the southerly inlets included star corals (Siderastrea radians, 62% Port of Miami), ribbed barnacles (Tetraclita stalactifera, 18% Port Everglades), and zoanthid corals (Palythoa sp., 40% Baker’s Haulover). In the north, the community shifted and species absent in the south became common (e.g., eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica, 9% Fort George, 15% St. Augustine; the macroalga Enteromorpha lactuca, 10% Fort George, 17% Sebastian Inlet). The invasive bryozoan Bugula neritina was always present north of the Port of Miami and was a major community component north of Port Everglades (e.g., 27% Fort Pierce Inlet and 22% Ponce de Leon Inlet). Correlations between intertidal populations and environmental indicators included the oyster C. virginica with various sea surface temperature (SST) parameters (e.g., inverse correlations with max SST, R ² = 0.81, p = .038). Likewise, the coralline alga Pneophyllum fragile was correlated with various SST parameters (e.g., min SST, R ² = 0.51, p = .020). Bare rock and B. neritina both showed inverse correlations with the human population of inlet drainage basins (R ² = 0.28, p = .040 and R ² = 0.33, p = .026, respectively), the latter relationship an unexpected pattern for a notorious invader. These data show latitudinal patterns and provide baselines for future comparisons in the wake of projected climate change.