Gulf of Maine Intertidal Communities

Taxonomic Group	Invertebrates
Level of Organization	Community
Scale	Local
Data Type	Experimental
Data Retriever	Yes
Georeferenced	Yes

This dataset provides records of density and cover meaurements of an intertital community. Two datasets have been published spanning 1996-2007.

Dataset Location: Ecological Archives (1996-2002); Ecological Archives Update (2003-2007)

Site Location: Swan Island, Gulf of Maine (44^(o) 10’ N, 68^(o) 25 W)

Sites Georefferenced: Yes

Timespan: 1996-2007

Sampling Frequency: Annually (summer)

Methods: 12 sites within 4 bays were established in 1996. Each site contained four circular experimental plots cleared at various diameters of vegetation (to mimic ice scours) and a control plot with no clearing. At least once a year, abundance and percent cover of the most common species were sampled.

Data Collected:  density (mussels, herbivourous limpet, herbiverous snails, predatory snail, barnacle, and fucoid alga); percent cover (mussels, barnacles, fucoids, and other sessile organisms)

Citation: Peter S. Petraitis and Nicholas Vidargas. 2006. Marine intertidal organisms found in experimental clearings on sheltered shores in the Gulf of Maine, USA. Ecology 87:796.

Peter S. Petraitis, Harrison Liu, and Erika C. Rhile. 2008. Densities and cover data for intertidal organisms in the Gulf of Maine, USA, from 2003 to 2007. Ecology 89:588.

Available via EcoData Retriever: Yes (Petraitis et al. 2008 only)