Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa

dc.contributor.authorDelafontaine, M T
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-06T10:43:57Z
dc.date.available2026-05-06T10:43:57Z
dc.date.issued1987
dc.date.updated2024-07-22T08:04:30Z
dc.description.abstractAn important area of research in biology deals with the integration of an organism with its environment. For a long time, interest was focused on the reactions of organisms to their physical milieu (Thiery, 1982). Subsequently, attention shifted to biological interactions such as competition and predation. More recently, biologists have come full circle in that physical aspects are, once again, being more fully investigated (e.g. Kazmierczak et al., 1985; Underwood, 1985). Shorelines provide an environment perhaps most ideally suited to such investigations. The transition zone between sea and land represents a unique mosaic of physical conditions whose diversity has yet to be fully explored by biologists. This is exemplified by classical models of species distributions involving 'wave action' (see Newell, 1979), a factor which is rarely precisely quantified in biological practice although its individual, hydrodynamic components have long been known to physical oceanographers. The present study of the biology of a rocky intertidal organism, th~ barnacl~ Tetraclita serrata Darwin, was carried out in southern Africa'between 1976 and 1984 with the specific aim of revealing the most important relationships between this organism and its physical milieu. The region is ideally suited for this purpose because a number of distinctly different climatic regimes occur along the South African coast. Thus, the cold-temperate western region is influenced predominantly by the cold Benguela Current (Fig. 1 ), whereas the warm Agulhas Current co.ntributes to the warmtemperate conditions on the south coast, merging into the subtropical environment of the east coast. In addition, an often rugged shoreline provides a multitude of microhabitats in which local physical conditions vary dramatically over very small distances.
dc.identifier.apacitationDelafontaine, M. T. (1987). <i>Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43192en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDelafontaine, M T. <i>"Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43192en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDelafontaine, M.T. 1987. Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43192en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Delafontaine, M T AB - An important area of research in biology deals with the integration of an organism with its environment. For a long time, interest was focused on the reactions of organisms to their physical milieu (Thiery, 1982). Subsequently, attention shifted to biological interactions such as competition and predation. More recently, biologists have come full circle in that physical aspects are, once again, being more fully investigated (e.g. Kazmierczak et al., 1985; Underwood, 1985). Shorelines provide an environment perhaps most ideally suited to such investigations. The transition zone between sea and land represents a unique mosaic of physical conditions whose diversity has yet to be fully explored by biologists. This is exemplified by classical models of species distributions involving 'wave action' (see Newell, 1979), a factor which is rarely precisely quantified in biological practice although its individual, hydrodynamic components have long been known to physical oceanographers. The present study of the biology of a rocky intertidal organism, th~ barnacl~ Tetraclita serrata Darwin, was carried out in southern Africa'between 1976 and 1984 with the specific aim of revealing the most important relationships between this organism and its physical milieu. The region is ideally suited for this purpose because a number of distinctly different climatic regimes occur along the South African coast. Thus, the cold-temperate western region is influenced predominantly by the cold Benguela Current (Fig. 1 ), whereas the warm Agulhas Current co.ntributes to the warmtemperate conditions on the south coast, merging into the subtropical environment of the east coast. In addition, an often rugged shoreline provides a multitude of microhabitats in which local physical conditions vary dramatically over very small distances. DA - 1987 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Biology LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1987 T1 - Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa TI - Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43192 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/43192
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDelafontaine MT. Aspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 1987 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43192en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Environmental and Geographical Science
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectBiology
dc.titleAspects of the biology of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin in southern Africa
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationlevelPhD
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