| In all marine benthic environments, organism replacement depends on recruitment limitation, i.e. the impact of both pre- and post-settlement events on the success of recruitment. The relative contribution of pre- versus post-settlement processes in shaping adult populations has been extensively studied. Most analyses concluded that recruitment limitation is a strong determinant of adults' density. The magnitude of its limitation depends on context, varies with species, and can be strongly modified by all the events preceding and following recruitment itself. A comparison of the outcome of recruitment limitation on hard- and soft-bottom communities has often been neglected. The rules governing these two environments, in both the inter- and the subtidal,... |
