Study taxa
Previous analyses have revealed striking genomic signatures of
post-uplift colonization in populations of intertidal habitat-forming
macroalgae Durvillaea poha and D. antarctica in southern
New Zealand (Parvizi et al. 2020), but the impacts of uplift on
associated epifaunal populations remains unknown. In the present study,
we analyze three epifaunal macroinvertebrates inhabiting intertidalDurvillaea ’s holdfasts. We focus on non-dispersive, brooding
epifaunal taxa exhibiting continuous (versus patchy) distributions along
both uplifted and non-uplifted sites. Previous studies of intertidalDurvillaea holdfast communities indicate that the chitonOnithochiton neglectus , the amphipod Parawaldeckia karaka ,
and the isopod Limnoria segnis have tight ecological links to
their host macroalgae and are potentially highly vulnerable to coastal
disturbance (Nikula et al. 2010; Fraser et al. 2011;
Waters et al. 2018; Salloum et al. 2020). Specifically,
these benthic macroinvertebrates are brooders, obligate holdfast
dwellers, and are restricted to macroalgae for reproduction, grazing and
dispersal.