Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences: Volume 80 -

Problems in ecological monitoring in Port Valdez, Alaska
E. B. Cowell, D. C. Monk
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

05 December 2011, pp. 355-366
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The technical and scientific problems of ecological monitoring at Port Valdez, Alaska are discussed. Particular attention is given to the problems created by lack of understanding of the processes of the Alaskan Rocky Shore ecosystem and the paucity of data on the natural stresses controlling temporal and spatial variation in populations. In addition, taxonomic difficulties, particularly in the littoral macroalgae, further compound survey problems.
The paper suggests some possible approaches that could be applied and is illustrated by data taken on baseline surveys made in 1977. Particular attention is given to unexpected age size distributions in the limpet Collisella pelta.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences