We’ve been setting up 20×20 plots that mimic severe disturbances at several intertidal sites across Gran Canaria. Plots have been set up on different occasions, so we expect to disentangle the importance of magnitudes of temporal and spatial variability on patterns of algal succession. Methodologically, we first have to scrape and burn all material within each plot (A); secondly, we then tag each plot drilling a hole into which a screw is inserted and labelled (B). Check out at (C), the arrangement of 5 plots. More importantly, the same routines are being implemented by several colleagues throughout Europe to respond a key question in modern ecology: do local patterns of succession in species richness reflect regional patterns in species richness?
