The effect of predation and natural physical disturbance on the community structure of a coastal marine habitat

Settling panels were used to determine the distribution of sessile organisms. Experimental and control cages were located at two study sites, that represented different physical exposures. Twenty nine species of sessile organisms were recorded for the two sites. Data on the presence or absence of each species for each sample were classified. The resulting hierarchy showed that physical disturbance of the environment had been the major factor in determining the distribution of sessile species. Furthermore, the hierarchy showed that predation was a less important determinant in the physically stressed study site, but had no effect in the protected site. The significance of these results are discussed and it is concluded that these results represent the effect of physical disturbance on a "Developing Community".