Rocky shore zonation at North Rustico and Prim Point, Prince Edward Island, Canada

The vertical zonations of organisms on rocky shores are described for 2 sites. The principal study area, near North Rustico, is in the Prince Edward Island[PEI] National Park. The general pattern at this site was a zone of blue-green algae at the highest level in the intertidal zone; a zone of Fucus at mean sea level; a zone of leafy green algae, especially on rocks near sandy beaches; and a zone of Chordaria flagelliformis at mean lower low water. The subtidal zone was dominated by Chondrus crispus and evesiculate Fucus vesiculosus with very little Laminaria saccharina except on steel surfaces of a breakwater. Details of 4 transects and a brief description of the horizontal distribution of algae are included. At the 2nd study site, Prim Point on the south coast of PEI, the zonation pattern is similar except that the zone of Chordaria is replaced by a zone of Chondrus and F. serratus. The vegetation and fauna are denser at Prim Point. The results are compared to Stephenson and Stephenson's (1954) study of shores of PEI and Nova Scotia.