Human Visitation in the Rocky Intertidal and its Effects on Abundance of Algal and Invertebrate Species

The rocky intertidal is a diverse ecosystem with a variety of species and ecological\ud interactions. Many biotic and abiotic interactions act together to restrict the abundance\ud and distribution of species. Anthropogenic effects can have an important impact on\ud species abundance and distribution as well. This study looks at how human visitation\ud affects community structure in the rocky intertidal along the Oregon coast. Areas of high\ud human visitation were found to have lower species richness than areas of low visitation in\ud the lower vertical zones of the rocky intertidal. However, species richness was found to\ud be higher in high visitation areas in the highest intertidal zone. Abundance of species\ud differed between areas of high and low human visitation, but showed few overall\ud significant trends