Chapter 7 - Biodiversity and Interactions on the Intertidal Rocky Shores of Argentina (South-West Atlantic)

PALOMO MARÍA GABRIELA; BAGUR MARÍA; CALLÁ SOFÍA; DALTON MARÍA CECILIA; SORIA SABRINA ANDREA; HAWKINS STEPHEN J.

Interactions in the Marine Benthos. Global Patterns and processes

Cambridge University Press

Año: 2022; p. 164 - 189

he rocky intertidal of the Argentinean coast extends 7,000 km from Río de la Plata (36°S) to Tierra del Fuego (54°S). Intertidal rocky platforms increase in frequency and extent from north to south. In the north, part of this extension has a microtidal nature changing to meso- and macro-tidal in southern Patagonia. The rocky shores of Argentina are characterised by low biodiversity and low biomass compared with other parts of the world. There is an increase in biodiversity at high latitudes, an opposite trend to the current paradigm. Facilitation, competition and grazers shape these patterns at local scales, while there are few predators and their size is frequently small, having lower effects than predators in other coasts. The role of invasive species and anthropogenic impacts on the rocky shores are reviewed as well as the global change effect along the coast. We conclude by considering the knowledge gaps and the special features of Argentine rocky shores which are shaped by their environmental setting and phylogeographic history leading to low diversity, missing functional groups for some taxa and a gradient of increasing diversity towards the poles.