Je. Hewitt et al., IDENTIFYING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ADULT AND JUVENILE BIVALVES AT DIFFERENT SPATIAL SCALES, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology, 216(1-2), 1997, pp. 77-98
The variable results of field experiments on adult-juvenile interactio
ns suggest that, under natural conditions, other processes may be more
important. However, field surveys are less equivocal. A potential rea
son for this is that surveys, integrating information over larger scal
es than experiments, have a greater ability to match the scale of proc
esses. In this survey, a transect design was utilised, with samples 1
m apart nested within samples 5 m apart, at three sites located 1 km a
part on a homogeneous sandflat. Correlations between adult and juvenil
e bivalves were analysed for a variety of distances apart (0 to 80 m)
and spatial extents (m to 1 km). Different intensities and directions
of relationships were observed at different scales and at different si
tes. This study supports the hypothesis that processes of a larger sca
le than those commonly examined in small-scale field experiments may c
ontribute to the variability of results of adult-juvenile interaction
experiments. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.