Plant Species Diversity in a Marine Intertidal Community: Importance of Herbivore Food Preference and Algal Competitive Abilities

TLDR

The unimodal diversity–herbivore density relationship arises because Littorina littorea preferentially grazes the competitively dominant algae in tide pools. Field experiments show that intermediate grazing by this snail promotes coexistence of inferior algal species while intense grazing reduces diversity, and that the effect depends on the match between herbivore preference and algal competitive ability, implying that predators can both increase or decrease plant diversity depending on grazing intensity.

Abstract

Field experiments demonstrate that the herbivorous marine snail Littorina littorea controls the abundance and type of algae in high intertidal tide pools in New England. Here the highest species diversity of algae occurs at intermediate Littorina densities. This unimodal relationship between algal species diversity and herbivore density occurs because the snail's preferred food is competitively dominant in tide pool habitats. Moderate grazing allows inferior algal species to persist and intense grazing eliminates most individuals and species. In contrast to pools, on emergent substrata where the preferred food is competitively inferior, this herbivore decreases algal diversity. Thus, the effect of this consumer on plant species diversity depends on the relationship between herbivore food preference and competitive abilities of the plants. These results may apply to most generalized consumers and provide a framework within which previously confusing results can be understood. Thus predators or herbivores do not simply increase or decrease species diversity of their food, but can potentially do both. The precise effect a consumer has probably depends both on the relationship between its preferences and the food's competitive abilities and on the intensity of the grazing or predation pressure.