So Ka Yi Erica. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-255). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iii / Contents --- p.ix / List of Tables --- p.xii / List of Figures --- p.xix / Chapter Chapter 1 --- General Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- General Objectives --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3 --- Study Site --- p.12 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the Thesis --- p.13 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "General Surveys on the Abundance of Algae and Herbivores in A Ma Wan, A Ye Wan and Lung Lok Shui, Tung Ping Chau, Hong Kong" / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.20 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Study site --- p.20 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Measurement of water temperature --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Measurement of algal percentage cover --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Measurement of herbivore density --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Investigation on the species richness and diversity of algae and herbivores --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Statistical analysis --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- Results --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Measurement of algal abundance and diversity --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.1.1 --- Percentage cover and morphology --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.1.2 --- Species richness --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.1.3 --- Species diversity --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.1.4 --- Dominance and composition --- p.30 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Measurement of herbivore abundance and diversity --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- Density of herbivores --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- Species richness --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.2.3 --- Species diversity --- p.34 / Chapter 2.3.2.4 --- Dominance and composition --- p.34 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Relationships between algae and herbivores --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3.3.1 --- Pairwise Pearson Correlation between algae and herbivores in different sites --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3.3.2 --- Canonical correlations between algal and herbivorous species --- p.38 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- "Water temperature and its relationships with the abundance, richness and diversity of algae and herbivores" --- p.39 / Chapter 2.4 --- Discussion --- p.40 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Spatial distribution of algae and herbivores --- p.40 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Seasonal distributions of algae and herbivores --- p.46 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Interactions between algae and herbivores --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Growth of Algae in Herbivore-exclusion Manipulative Experiment / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.106 / Chapter 3.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.111 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Study site --- p.111 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Manipulative experiment --- p.111 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Investigation on the manipulative experiment --- p.112 / Chapter 3.2.3.1 --- Species composition of algae and herbivores --- p.113 / Chapter 3.2.3.2 --- Percentage cover of algae and density of herbivores --- p.113 / Chapter 3.2.3.3 --- Sizes of herbivores --- p.113 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Detecting the cage effect --- p.114 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Statistical analyses --- p.114 / Chapter 3.3 --- Results --- p.117 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Algae --- p.117 / Chapter 3.3.1.1 --- Percentage cover --- p.117 / Chapter 3.3.1.2 --- Species richness --- p.120 / Chapter 3.3.1.3 --- Composition between treatments --- p.121 / Chapter 3.3.1.4 --- Compositions between set-ups --- p.121 / Chapter 3.3.1.5 --- Effects from caging and clearing --- p.122 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Herbivores --- p.123 / Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- Density --- p.123 / Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Species richness --- p.124 / Chapter 3.3.2.3 --- Compositions between treatments --- p.124 / Chapter 3.3.2.4 --- Compositions between set-ups --- p.125 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Relationships between algae and herbivores --- p.125 / Chapter 3.3.3.1 --- Abundance --- p.125 / Chapter 3.3.3.2 --- Composition --- p.126 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Sizes of herbivores --- p.128 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Irradiance between treatments --- p.128 / Chapter 3.4 --- Discussion --- p.129 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Effects of clearing on algal and herbivore dynamics --- p.130 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Effects of caging on algal and herbivore dynamics --- p.135 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Effects of seasonality of clearing on algal and herbivore dynamics --- p.139 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Interactions of algae and herbivores --- p.142 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Feeding Behavior of Common Herbivores in the Artificial Food Experiment / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.216 / Chapter 4.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.218 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Sample collections --- p.218 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Production of artificial foods --- p.219 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Feeding experiments --- p.219 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Statistical analysis --- p.220 / Chapter 4.3 --- Results --- p.221 / Chapter 4.4 --- Discussion --- p.222 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Summary and Conclusion --- p.233 / References --- p.243