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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1987 Mar;84(5):1314–1318. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.5.1314

Wave energy and intertidal productivity

Egbert G Leigh Jr *, Robert T Paine , James F Quinn , Thomas H Suchanek ‡,§
PMCID: PMC304418  PMID: 16593813

Abstract

In the northeastern Pacific, intertidal zones of the most wave-beaten shores receive more energy from breaking waves than from the sun. Despite severe mortality from winter storms, communities at some wave-beaten sites produce an extraordinary quantity of dry matter per unit area of shore per year. At wave-beaten sites of Tatoosh Island, WA, sea palms, Postelsia palmaeformis, can produce > 10 kg of dry matter, or 1.5 × 108 J, per m2 in a good year. Extraordinarily productive organisms such as Postelsia are restricted to wave-beaten sites. Intertidal organisms cannot transform wave energy into chemical energy, as photosynthetic plants transform solar energy, nor can intertidal organisms “harness” wave energy. Nonetheless, wave energy enhances the productivity of intertidal organisms. On exposed shores, waves increase the capacity of resident algae to acquire nutrients and use sunlight, augment the competitive ability of productive organisms, and protect intertidal residents by knocking away their enemies or preventing them from feeding.

Keywords: leaf area index, Mytilus californianus, Postelsia, rocky shore, zonation

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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