Explanations of patterns of intertidal diversity at regional scales

Aim To test the hypothesis that the abiotic variables of salinity, temperat ure and fetch could explain patterns of intertidal species richness at regi onal scales (100-1000 s of km). Location British Columbia, Canada. Methods Using a 180 station data set collected over 7 degrees of latitude o n bedrock shorelines, we used a combination of correlation, multiple regres sion and ordination to show that species richness was strongly related to f etch, salinity and temperature. Results Results are consistent with the expected outcomes from the stabilit y-time and intermediate disturbance hypotheses. Main conclusions Temperate intertidal environments are predominantly physic ally accomodated at regional scales. Implications for near-shore conservati on are that the conservation of outer coast environments protects more spec ies in a given area than inner coast environments.