Chaumapsipho Brunnea And Sirens Rock Research Paper

Alterations of environmental conditions appear constant to aquatic organisms that live within rocky shore ecosystems. The Zebra-top Snail was examined species within the following report, found on intertidal rocky shores of south-east and West Australia. The reaction and mass change of the Zebra-top Snail was examined whist carrying out this experiment. It was hypothesised that the Snails placed into higher salinity water will attempt to find higher ground, and their mass will be less than their original weight. The Snails were placed in water, each containing different amounts of salinity, as the rate of reaction was examined. The Snails placed in greater salinity showed a significant response in reaction within 10 minutes of observations.

Limpets (Patella vulgate) live in algae rich environments on rocky shores. . It has been proposed that in more sheltered areas, limpet shells will grow to be flatter with a larger diameter, while in more exposed areas of coastline, they will grow a taller and narrower shell shape. To find out whether or not the shores of Aberdeen reflected this, samples were taken from two sites (Site A and Site B) along the Aberdeen coastline that varied in their exposure to wave action. The sites were chosen to provide two sample sites with a notable difference in their environment. In the more sheltered site A, limpets were not exposed to harsh waves, while at site B, there was significantly more wave action. Quadrats were used at both sites to provide an area of sampling for the limpets and they were placed around 5 meters from the waterline. The overall results from the study showed that there is a very strong relationship between diameter and height in Limpet shells and that there was an incredibly slight difference in the relationship between the two sites.

Competition determines survival of the fittest. The larger plankton eat larger particles, therefore making themselves thrive, and the smaller planktonic herbivores were extinguished from the specific lake ecosystem. When the plankton are being heavily hunted, the smaller thrive. The small plankton tend to succeed in the general plankton population because they are effective when collecting their food, and they have lower metabolic rates, requiring them to eat less. An equation was devised to represent this scenario. “The food collecting surfaces are proportional to the square of some characteristic linear dimension, such as body length, in Crystal Lake, for example, the body length of Daphnia catawba is about four times that of Bosmina longirostris, so that the filtering area of the Daphnia is about 16 times larger than that of the

The upper zone, also known as the high tide zone, does not have enough water to sustain large amounts of vegetation.[8] The predominant organisms are anemones, barnacles, hermit crabs and limpets. The rock pools in this area are inhabited by large seaweed and small fish.

4.1 – On average, how many high and low tides will a given spot on the coast experience in a day, and why?

Although it supports a number of different organisms, Nudgee Beach lacks many of the fundamentals that make up a healthy and successful ecosystem. The first indicator of this is from the lack of birds present in the area. Although it has been noted for terrestrial bird species – such as kingfishers, pelicans, ibis, egrets, jabiru, stilts and heron – and wading bird species – such as golden plovers, curlews, tattlers and godwits – to have been spotted at Nudgee Beach and surrounding areas in the past; after a day’s worth of extensive observation and research, it was found that the birds observed were limited to magpie, ibis, great knot and eastern curlew species. To intensify this factor, at the time by which this lack of species was recorded, Nudgee Beach was expected to have started seeing tens of thousands of birds arrive for the migratory season [21]. This blatant lack of bird species diversity and quantity may have been due to the lack of small organisms within the ecosystem. The restricted number of small organisms at Nudgee Beach is detrimental to the entire ecosystem as these organisms make up the bottom levels of the food web and provide higher-level organisms with adequate amounts of food to consume. The smaller organisms expected to be observed – including; crustacean, shell, mollusc, lizard, frog, fish, worm, arachnid and insect species – was limited to the infrequent observation of crustacean, shell,

The Tidal zones consist of splash zone, high water neap tide, low water neap tide, high water spring tide, low water spring tide, mid tide level and the splash zone and sub littoral zone. All of these tidal zones can be determined by which indicator organisms/animals are living there. For an example the splash zone is the highest of all zones and the organisms that are generally living there are noddiwinkles. If you spot a lot of honeycomb barnacles and blue-grey periwinkle’s then you are most likely in the high water tide zone and water only covers this zone at high tide. White tube worms are indictor organism the mid tide level zone and is covered by water for half of the day. There’s also the low tide zone which is engulfed in water for the majority of the day expect at low tide, you can determine this zone by finding indicator organisms such as sea squirts. The final tidal zone is the sub literal zone and this is always under water the indictor organism’s living here are brown tubeworms and striped girdled chiton.

The profile of Pallarenda beach as shown in figure 1 is very typical of a North Queensland, medium energy beach. The lack of organisms present higher up the beach was due to the harsh conditions at low tide. Ghost Crabs, Ocypode quadrata, can survive these areas as a result of their adaptations (The Otter Island Project). The ghost crab burrows during the day and feeds at night to avoid the heat of the day (The Otter Island Project). These crabs can actively take up moisture from damp sand to wet their gills (The Otter Island Project).

Oyster reefs, giant populations of oysters, provide habitats for many other types of organisms such as worms, snails, sea squirts, sponges, small crabs, and fishes.

Without oyster reefs, animal habitats are lost because the current is pushing against the shore, endangering the animals. Oyster reefs allow marsh grass to grow. Oyster reefs also provide habitats for oysters, shrimp, and crabs. Oyster castles help prevent shore erosion and water clarity. In addition, oysters exist here in the Lynnhaven River for many reasons. Oysters can SURVIVE in 5-35 ppt( parts per thousand), but they especially thrive in 12-25 ppt. Salinity levels also impact the presence of diseases. For example, at 10 ppt oysters can get diseases such as MSX or Dermo. If the salinity is below 10 ppt for 10 or more days, MSX will be eliminated. In places with lower salinity,around 12 ppt, oysters grow slower. In places with higher salinity, around 25 ppt, oysters grow faster. Their growth can also be affected by tempreature, food, and disease. The Lynnhaven River has high salinity, lots of food, and minimal diseases in most locations,ideal conditions for an oyster. Equally important is the roles other animals play to oysters and their ecosystem. Bioturbators are animals that dig up sediments and particles while making their burrows. Mud crabs are dominant

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is one of the most familiar inhabitants of marshes and waterways along the Atlantic and GMx coasts of North America. The abundance of blue crab larvae and juveniles make them important components of the diets of numerous species of fish, invertebrate and avian predators (Van Engel 1987, Guillory and Elliot 2001). As juveniles and adults, blue crabs act as generalist predators on benthic infauna and epifauna; consuming invertebrates, fish, and crustaceans (including other blue crabs) as well as plant and detrital materials (Darnell 1958, Alexander 1986, Meise and Stehlik 2003, Lipcius et al. 2007). It has been proposed that blue crabs are keystone species in the marsh because of their impact as predators

The coral reef surveyors were instructed to find the best sites that they believed had the most living coral and were thought to be least affected by human activities. This would allow Hodgson to determine if human activities were having an appreciable effect on the supposed pristine coral reefs, which were distant from urban centers. The invertebrate survey was undertaken at two depth intervals of 3m and 10m. Four 0.5 m wide by 20 m long belts were placed on the coral reef. Over a period of 3-5 minutes the observers counted the number of invertebrates found on the belts. The coral survey was performed, by placing four 20 m long belts on the coral substrate. At 0.5 m intervals the substrate on which the belts were lying was examined and recorded.

The intertidal rocky shore of Caloundra Beach is inhabited by diverse range of biodiversity of animals and plants, many of which have developed high levels of adaptations throughout their existence. The very boundary of marine and terrestrial ecosystem, this environment is subjected to extremes of the physical environment such as temperature, desiccation, wave turbulence as well the ecological interactions that commonly occur in biotic communities (e.g. competition, predation). However Rocky intertidal shores are easily accessible by humans and provide an enjoyable opportunity for passive recreation and for science and environmental education as well.

The aim of this investigation is to look at the distribution of the ornate limpet, (Cellana Ornata) and the radiate limpet (Cellana Radians) on the rocky shore. We went to the rocky shore of Sirens rocks between Island Bay and Owhiro Bay, on Wellington’s South Coast. We are studying how our chosen organisms affect each other’s distribution patterns. We sampled in the low tide zone, mid tide zone, and high tide zone. The rocky shore we explored was 80 metre long, rocky terrain, bare rock platforms with rock gulley’s.

One of the organisms I have chosen, the Red Waratah anemone (Actinia tenebrosa) was found in the mid tide zone and the low tide zone. This anemone is the main prey of the predator Grey side-gilled sea slug, which is the other organism I have chosen,