Ecology of tropical rocky shores: plant-animal interactions in tropical and temperate latitudes

Abstract It is only the relative importance of various ecological processes that varies between tropical and temperate shores, not the processes themselves. A comparison of physical and biological features of tropical shores is presented. Overall, herbivorous fish are more common in the tropics, while invertebrate grazers dominate temperate regions; this difference is responsible for much of the variation in algal composition and abundance between tropical and temperate shores. A model predicting how different herbivores influence plant composition is presented. Nontrophic interactions are important at all latitudes, but may be more important in temperate zones. Three-dimensional refuges are more important in the tropics. Models of the importance of species interactions in relation to environmental stress may allow us to predict when plantanimal interactions will be dominant factors on rocky shores, regardless of latitude.