ROCKY SHORE SURVEY 



INTRODUCTION 



Rocky shores in the Millstone Point area support a community that 

 is important both to the marine ecosystem and to the NUEL environmental 

 monitoring program. Worldwide, intertidal and near-shore communities 

 are extremely productive (Mann 1973) , and the resulting food webs and 

 energy flows are enormously complex (Paine 1966); the ecological balance 

 of the system can be affected by man-induced stress (Vadas et al. 1976; 

 Southward and Southward 1978) . Nearby rocky shores are similarly 

 productive and sensitive to perturbation; additionally, they are easily 

 observed and frequently visited by the public. 



It is therefore important that we understand the processes that 

 determine the structure and function of local intertidal communities. 

 Fortunately, rocky shores have attributes that facilitate our monitoring 

 program. They are stable and easily accessible, relative to most marine 

 habitats. Many factors that influence intertidal comm.unity development 

 (e.g., immersion time, wave-shock, predation and grazing pressure) occur 

 In gradients; some can be experimentally manipulated (Connell 1961; 

 Dayton 1975). Finally, many of the individual species that comprise the 

 community are ideal research tools for monitoring the effects of 

 environmental perturbation. Some species are long-lived, and can 

 integrate environmental conditions over many years; others are 

 ephemeral , and by their presence or abundance respond very quickly to 

 environmental changes. Some species are sessile or slow-moving, and 

 continuously exposed to potential impacts; others are motile, and their 

 behavior indicates the suitability of conditions at that partuclar place 

 and time. 



The Rocky Shore Survey was established to take advantage of these 

 features of the intertidal region. Our objectives are to identify the 

 attached plant and animal species at sites in the vicinity of Millstone 

 Nuclear Power Station (MNPS) , to establish temporal and spatial patterns 

 of species occurrence and abundance at these sites, and to recognize the 

 physical and biological factors that induce variability at these sites. 



