#rocky intertidal

[jadafitch]

Another illustration for Tasha Greenwood's Edible & Medicinal Seaweeds: A Guide to Healing & Nutritive Ocean Plants, published by Storey. Tidal Zones!

[typhlonectes]

Giant Green Anemones in a tidepool at Green Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Washington state, USA

[seaofkimchi]

My favorite office.

[stijlw]

“alexisandlauraintertidal.jpg”

[accreations]

Some highlights for a recent creative project presentation I gave about the many issues species living in the rocky intertidal face, and the strategies they use to survive.

[accreations]

Sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus)

Humans (Homo sapiens)

Some vector clip art I made for a recent community open house day at the local marine lab! They were used to help demonstrate how different species depend on each other for survival. Most shapes were traced from actual photos of the organisms, but others (particularly the urchin) took some artistic liberties to get it to look decent in the style.

Bonus points for knowing whose silhouettes those are representing the humans!

[sweetteascience]

Spent the day on the water with my lab mate yesterday. Other people's field work is the best.

[a-marine-biologist]

The Rocky Intertidal!

-Highly variable environment!

Low tide problems: desiccation, solar heating with no regulation from water, freezing, osmotic stress (from rain), feeding for mobile animals takes more energy and leads to more desiccation, suspension feeders can't feed (no water with food in it), and lack of mechanical support (no water to hold you up)

High tide problems: high and constant salinity, little change in temperature or pH

High tide > low tide (for marine organisms)

-Organisms adapt over time to specific areas in the intertidal and become zonated (groups of organisms that create a visible band dependent on water depth)

-Limits are determined by:

Upper limit: physical factors (ability to tolerate desiccation, high salinity variability, etc.)

Lower limit: biological factors (predation and competition)

-Northeast Zonation Example:

Top (least water) --> Bottom (most water) cyanobacteria, barnacles, mussels, rockweed, red algae, laminaria (kelp)

Important in Cobble Substrate (rather than bedrock):

Microgradients: small scale zonation in cracks, crevices, underneath boulders, algal canopies

Rocks move around due to storms and waves, so these microgradients provide protection from the rocks smashing together and killing the organisms on top of them

Gradients: -Main physical:

Wave exposure-Horizontal, worst at headlands (parts of the shore that stick out) due to high wave concentration

Tidal excursion-Vertical, worst at or above high tide critical tide level-lethal range of physical parameters

-Main biological:

Predation/grazing: prevents monopolization of an area by a single species

Competition: only if a resource is limited (usually space)

Reproduction/Recruitment: usually dependent on physical/chemical factors, current adult population, and type of larvae or reproduction for each organism