Different assemblages of intertidal biota may be associated with the hardness of the rock type that comprises the seashore. However, very few published studies have investigated mobile and sessile assemblage differences between hardness classes. To remedy this, we investigated the physical attributes and biotic assemblages of 12 rock platforms across two bioregions, encompassing seven rock types categorised into either the soft (≤4 using Moh’s scale of scratch hardness) or hard (>4 on Moh’s scale) classes. Rock types from the soft versus hard classes differed physically, but the biotic assemblages showed few general differences between hardness classes. Instead, most biotic differences associated with rock hardness were specific to just one of the marine bioregions sampled, not both. Hardness‐related assemblage differences were only weakly‐to‐moderately correlated with hardness differences in mineralogy or microhabitat density. The detection of bioregion‐specific hardness differences for intertidal assemblages, rather than general hardness class trends, indicate that the type of rock comprising the seashore in each bioregion may be more strongly associated with the biotic patterns identified than hardness per se.

中文翻译：

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潮间带组合与岩石硬度之间缺乏一般联系

潮间带生物群的不同组合可能与构成海边的岩石类型的硬度有关。但是，很少有已发表的研究调查硬度等级之间的可移动和无柄组装差异。为了解决这个问题，我们研究了两个生物区域中12个岩石平台的物理属性和生物组成，包括7种岩石类型，分为软类别（使用莫氏硬度计≤4）或硬类别（按莫氏硬度计> 4）。软岩和硬岩的岩石类型在物理上有所不同，但是生物组合几乎没有显示硬度类别的一般差异。相反，大多数与岩石硬度有关的生物差异仅针对采样的一个海洋生物区域，而不是两个。硬度相关的组装差异与矿物学或微生境密度的硬度差异仅弱至中度相关。检测潮间带组合的生物区域特定硬度差异，而不是一般的硬度类别趋势，表明在每个生物区域中构成海边的岩石类型可能与所识别的生物模式比硬度更紧密相关。本身。