RECRUITMENT VS. POSTRECRUITMENT PROCESSES AS DETERMINANTS OF BARNACLE POPULATION ABUNDANCE.(Statistical Data Included)

BRUCE A. MENGE [1]

Abstract. Determining the relative contributions of recruitment v postrecruitment processe to adult populations is an unresolv issue. The "recruit-adult" hypothesis refer tos that the density of recruits is a profitable predictor of adult density when depressed but not when high. That is, the relative importance of recruitment v postrecruitment factors varies inversely with increasing density of recruits. In a hard intertidal habitat at two Oregon coastal sites, a field experiment was done using sum of two units barnacle species to test this hypothesis. The relative