Mussel beds are common in many intertidal and subtidal habitats, including sub-Arctic and Arctic regions. Despite their ecological importance, little is known about the demographic processes governing the development of mussel beds and particularly about the synchronization of these processes at different spatial scales. The development of a relatively compact, narrow littoral mussel bed of Mytilus trossulus , extending several hundred m along the shore of Koni Peninsula (Tauyskaya Bay, northern Sea of Okhotsk), was studied for four years during the period 2014–2017. This model bed was located along an exposed coast with a seasonal sea ice cover. It was used to test the hypothesis that small-scale synchronization exists, i.e., the changes in demographic structure of the population that occur simultaneously within a single mussel bed follow a similar pattern. This hypothesis was rejected. The size structure of the mussel population at the same tidal level changed from being uniform (2014) to being varied in 2015–2017. The course of development of the mussel population was different at the opposite ends of the bed. The cause of these differences may be unequal levels of recruitment of juveniles in the form of a gradient from one end of the bed to the other over the length of the bed. The gradient was associated with transition from one type of shore dynamic processes to another (accumulation vs. abrasion). Small-scale desynchronization may represent one of the reasons explaining the heterogeneity of mussel populations. The possibility of desynchronization of demographic processes should be taken into consideration when studying the spatial organization and dynamics of mussel beds.

中文翻译：

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从统一到多样性：鄂霍次克海亚北极沿岸贻贝床的开发

贻贝床常见于许多潮间带和潮下带栖息地，包括亚北极和北极地区。尽管具有生态重要性，但人们对控制贻贝床发育的人口过程，特别是这些过程在不同空间尺度上的同步知之甚少。在 2014 年至 2017 年期间，对沿着科尼半岛（鄂霍次克海北部的陶伊斯卡亚湾）海岸延伸数百米的相对紧凑、狭窄的贻贝滨海贻贝床的发育进行了四年研究。这张模型床位于裸露的海岸上，有季节性海冰覆盖。它被用来检验存在小规模同步的假设，即，在单个贻贝床内同时发生的种群人口结构变化遵循类似的模式。这个假设被拒绝了。同一潮位贻贝种群的大小结构由均匀（2014年）变为2015-2017年变化。贻贝种群的发育过程在河床的两端不同。造成这些差异的原因可能是幼鱼的招募水平不均，从床的一端到另一端在床的长度上呈梯度变化。梯度与从一种类型的海岸动态过程过渡到另一种类型（积累与磨损）有关。小规模的不同步可能是解释贻贝种群异质性的原因之一。