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.