The time immediately following the metamorphosis and settlement of benthic organisms is critical to their ability to become part of the existing community. Because of their small size and simpler morphology, juveniles endure more intense interactions with a wider spectrum of species. In addition, tremendous changes in the ecological relationships between species can occur between life-history stages and the importance of these study will focus on the settling and juvenile stages of 7 dominant species within subtidal marine epifaunal communities along the coast of southern New England. The study sites chosen exhibit extreme (1 to 2 orders of Magnitude) differences in larval settlement, and each has a distinct group of dominant species. Experiments will be conducted to test processes that predation to recruitment, i.e. differences in larval settlement and examine how relationships change with life-stage. The importance of any event occurring during juvenile life-history stages will be judged relative to phenomena occurring during larval settlement and within the adult community.
