3.2.2. Abundance and size distribution of dominant canopy gap epifauna
Two dominant epifaunal species [Uca annulipes (porcelain fiddler
crab) and Cerithidea cingulata (girdled horn snail)] were found in the
canopy gap. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant
interaction between time and treatment effects on the numerical
abundance of U. annulipes (F20,75=2.816 pb0.001); changes in the
directions of effects over time account for this significant interaction
term. We performed separate one-way ANOVAs for each time
interval, and demonstrated significant differences among treatments
(before, gap = structure = shade = mix N forest; 1 week, mix N
forest; 1 month, gap N forest; 6 months, gap = structure = shade =
mix N forest; 12 months, gap = structure = shade N forest;
18 months, gap = structure = mix N forest; Scheffé tests, pb0.05),
with the lowest values in forest treatments (Fig. 3c).