Reproductive response of a marine annelid to winter storms: an analog to fire adaptation in plants?

The recruitment strength of Phragmatoponia lapidosa cahfornica, a greganous, sedentary, tube-building polychaete from shallow manne habitats along the open coast of California, was significantly correlated to wave disturbance intensity during the previous 2 to 5 mo This relationship appears to be caused by a reproductive behav~or whereby individuals respond to disastrous wave disturbance events by releasing gametes Into the water column Individuals thus maximize reproductive effort when faced with an increase in both the probability of death and the availability of settlement space The life history characteristics of P I californ~ca indicate that i t is well-adapted for persistence in a frequently disturbed environment These adaptations are analogous to those exhibitled by several specles of terrestrial plants in f~re-disturbed communities Intense wave events and flres are analogous disturbances in that both have similar temporal patterns, ecolog~cal effects, and exert similar selection pressures on species in each community