DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF
INTERTIDAL SPECIES IN
DIFFERENT TIDE POOL
ELEVATIONS
Femi Adegbidi, Brittany Cain , Ally Pennell,
Melanie Hogan, Louise-Marie Roux
The Rocky Intertidal
 Unique environment with
fluctuating physical
factors
 Physical transition zone
 Diverse zones with
various species
 Fluctuating habitats
Tide Pools
 Fluctuating environments
 Tides
 Physical factors
 Temperature
 Salinity
 Oxygen concentration
Tide Pool Composition
 High Elevations
 High salinity
 Temperature changes
 Low Elevations
 More water
 Oxygen
 Poor at dealing with
fluctuations
Objective
 Effect of elevation on species diversity and
organismal composition in tide pools
 Hypotheses
 Medium-Low height tide pools  greater diversity and
richness
 Organisms found will be similar to those defined in the
intertidal zonation theory
 Tide pools at similar elevations will be more similar to each
other
Bay of Fundy
 St. Andrew’s, NB
 World’s highest tides
 Ideal site for intertidal
research
Sampling Sites
 2 sites
 Indian Point- uniform, sandy substrate,
 Green’s Point- steep, rocky
 4 tide pools per site
Sampling Methods
 30 cm2 quadrat
 Surveyor’s transit
 Organisms collected and identified
Data Analysis
 Dichotomous key for species identification
 Diversity indexes
 Sorensen’s similarity index
 Simpson’s diversity index
Common Species: Greens Point
I Lowest Tide Pool
IV
25
Highest Tide Pool
100
Littorina littorea
90
15
Cystoclonium purpureum
80
Mytilus edulis
70
Laminaria saccharina
60
Littorina littorea
Littorina obtusata
10
Acmaea testudinalis
Buccinum undataum
5
Fucus spiralis
Total Count
Total Count
20
Littorina obtusata
Mya arenaria
50
Anomia aculeata
40
Mytilus edulis
30
20
Placopecten
magellanicus
10
Gammarus oceanicus
0
0
Organisms
Organisms
Common Species: Indians Point
II
120
100
Total Count
80
Littorina littorea
40
Mytilus edulis
Littorina obtusata
60
Mya arenaria
Semibalanus balanus
20
Acmaea testudinalis
0
Organisms
Species Richness
10
9
8
Species Richness
7
6
5
Indian Point
Green's Point
4
3
2
1
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
Height (m)
2
2.5
3
Species Diversity
0.6
0.5
Simpson's Index
0.4
0.3
Green's Point
Indian Point
0.2
0.1
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
Height (m)
2
2.5
3
Tide Pool Elevation Similarity
Conclusions
 Organisms that can cope with frequent disturbance
are found in tide pools at higher elevations
 Organisms that require more water and oxygen in
tide pools at lower elevations
 Sampling methods may have missed microscopic
organisms  Changing diversity
THANK YOU!