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PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL IV, October, 1950 
as compared with, for example, forest vege- 
tation, it could be maintained that the units 
do not justify the ecological status of a cli- 
max. In this paper, support is given to the 
former view; for there does appear to be a 
certain, fairly constant sequence of events 
which may be in the nature of a true succes- 
sion leading up to a relatively stable climax 
condition. Nevertheless, more detailed work 
will be necessary for a satisfactory elucidation 
of this problem. 
In assessing the ecological importance of 
animals in a community, one of three views 
may be adopted: ( 1 ) that animals are biotic 
factors external to the plant community; 
(2) that animal communities exist where 
plants form part of the habitat; (3) that 
plants and animals are interrelated, co-acting 
constituents of an integrated biotic commu- 
nity (Phillips, 1931). The third view is 
adopted by several authors, including Cle- 
ments and Shelford (1939), who propose the 
biome or biotic formation as the basic unit 
on land or sea. The concept seems the most 
suitable one so far put forward for applica- 
tion to seashore communities and is adopted 
in the present work. 
The broad vertical zonation in the Hauraki 
Gulf can be compared with that described by 
Stephenson (1939; 1944) for the coast of 
South Africa, and more recently by Dakin, 
Bennett, and Pope (1948) for the New South 
Wales coast. Four main zones can be distin- 
guished here, of which characteristic domi- 
nants are: (1) Melaraphe (a littorinoid 
species), (2) barnacles, (3) small, turf- 
forming algae, and (4) large, brown algae. 
Each zone is regarded as constituting a sep- 
arate biome, or biotic formation, since these 
divisions appear to be real entities of world- 
wide occurrence. Using Stephenson’s termi- 
nology, these are equivalent to: ( 1 ) littorina 
zone, (2) balanoid zone, (3) mixed algal 
zone, and (4) sublittoral fringe. 
In this paper, terms used in connection 
with the ecology of higher plants have been 
applied to units on the seashore, according to 
the following definitions: 
Biome: a biotic community with the rank 
of a climax formation (Clements and Shel- 
ford, 1939). 
Association- complex: a group of associa- 
tions occurring in successive belts which fol- 
low one another in a regular, constantly 
recurring sequence (Cranwell and Moore, 
1938). 
Association: a climax community with two 
or more dominants (Clements, 1916). 
Consociation: a climax community with a 
single dominant (Phillips, 1931). 
Fasciation: a portion of an association in 
which one or more dominants have dropped 
out and have been replaced by other forms, 
the general aspect of the community remain- 
ing unchanged (Clements, 1936). 
Clan: a small community of subordinate 
importance but of distinctive character, fre- 
quently the result of vegetative propagation 
(Clements, 1936). 
Aspect society: A seasonal community 
characterized by one or more subdominants. 
Belt: a continuous, horizontal strip of the 
coast occupied throughout most of its length 
by one association, which may be interrupted 
by another community, depending on slightly 
local conditions (Cranwell and Moore, 1938). 
Zone: the horizontal sector occupied by 
one formation and characterized by domi- 
nants of one or more associations. 
PHYSICAL FACTORS 
Narrow Neck lies about 2 miles north of 
Devonport, on the north shore of Waitemata 
Harbour, Auckland. The Harbour constitutes 
a ramifying arm of the Hauraki Gulf, which 
is almost landlocked and protected from the 
full force of onshore gales from the Pacific 
Ocean by Great Barrier and Little Barrier 
Islands to the north and by Coromandel Pen- 
insula to the east. The reef itself forms part 
of a submarine shelf extending seawards to 
the Rangitoto Channel, the greatest depth of 
