Question

Connel's field experiment on the rocky sea coast of Scotland, where larger Barnacle balanus dominates the intertidal area and removes the smaller Barnacle cathamalus. This happened due to.

• A. Predation
• B. Competition
• C. Parasitism
• D. Mutualism

Answer 1

The correct option is B Competition

Connel's field experiment on the rocky sea coast of Scotland, where larger Barnacle balanus dominates the intertidal area and removes the smaller Barnacle cathamalus. This happened due to competition for space between two species of barnacles, Balanus balanoides and Chthamalus stellatus. Though Chthamalus occupying an upper zone, and Balanus, a lower zone.

Larvae of both species settle and attach over a wider vertical range than the zone occupied by adults. But barnacles are removed because Chthamalus are more tolerant of physical desiccation than Balanus. Connell suggests that the lower limit of distribution of intertidal organisms is usually determined mainly by biotic factors, such as competition with other species and predation, whereas the upper limit is more often set by physical factors, such as dry conditions prevailing during low tides.