Rocky Shore Habitats

How effective are the coastal management strategies used at present in your local beach area?

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 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).

The Callinectes sapidus also known commonly as the Maryland Blue Crab, is a crustacean found in the Chesapeake Bay. The blue crab is found in aquatic environments, most often in estuaries. It characterized by it’s blue claws. The blue crabs undergo a life cycle of: zoeae, megalop, juvenile, and adulthood. The blue crab’s hard shells serve as a protective barrier for external dangers. The Callinectes sapidus comes from the order of Decapods, whereby it’s carapace has now evolved to be better suited for swimming. Of interest is the blue crab’s mating

Horseshoe crabs are an important part of the wetland ecosystem, however they are going extinct. Due to harvesting, pollution, and other animals consuming their offspring their numbers are dwindling. They play an important part in the ecosystem and need to be protected so they do not become extinct. The Delaware bay has decided to protect them for their future uses in medicine and to keep them as an important role in the ecosystem.

6) There are several advantages and disadvantages to identifying benthic macro-invertebrates at different taxonomic levels. In this assignment metrics were calculated to the 27-group level (which consists of phyla, classes, orders and families) as well as the family level. There were slight differences in the calculated species richness and Biotic Indexes using these different identification levels. This is an indication that taxonomic resolution can affect bioassesment outcomes.

Three years ago, the author took a trip to Delaware. As his family was walking on the beach they came across some horseshoe crabs mating. He wondered how they have changed. The type of horseshoe crab he saw along the beach was called “limulus polyphemus”. Limulus Polyphemus is not found in the fossil records. The fossil record for horseshoe crabs is deeper than 20 million years, and the

The Purple Marsh Crab, or simply known as the Marsh Crab, is a small crab that is native to the Eastern United States. They live in the salt marshes and mud flats of brackish estuaries, and create networks of connected tunnels within the flats.

The rocky shore is the intertidal zone, where the land meets the sea. It has a presence of large and small rocks, with the possibility of rock drop-offs or cliffs. There is a high presence of rock pools, containing an array of living and non-living organisms. The abiotic factors of the rocky shores

Unlike the yeti, though just as elusive, the yeti crab is no creature of fable. The yeti crab, also known as Kiwa hirsuta, has introduced not only a new species of crustaceans, but an entirely new and unique genus as well. The genus Kiwa was chosen after the Polynesian goddess of shellfish, and the species name hirsuta represents the crab’s hairy, yeti-like arms. Determined to be a decapod, it is related to crabs, lobster, and shrimp. The creature is differentiated from these by its lack of eyes and its obvious yeti-like appearance. Found on the Pacific-Antarctic ridge near Easter Island, this benthic creature is a very strange spectacle. The deep-sea creature survives in a very specific environment, and uses the hair on its legs for most of

The blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay was considered to be a surplus from the 1950s to around the 2000s as well as in the Bay’s tributaries (Stagg & Whilden, 1997). The blue crabs in Maryland live for about three years (Stagg & Whilden, 1997). This is part of the reason that it’s so important that a high level of blue crabs is maintained so that they’ll be able to produce offspring future generations. Approximately 75% of the entire blue crab population is made up of the crabs in Maryland (Lui, 2015).

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.

Between the beaches on the coastline of Australia there are rocky headlands. Some are gently sloping whereas others dip steeply into the ocean. Some rocky shores are strongly contorted and broken, while others form flat or horizontal platforms and reefs. Every rocky headland type has a wide range of habitats and microhabitats, available for colonisation by animals and algae. There numerous categories of rocky shore for example; granite shores, basalt shores, limestone shores, sandstone shores, metamorphic shores and boulder shores. Rocky shores are excellent havens for intertidal creatures such as mussels, anemones, limpets and top shells, and a countless variety of algae species. Rocky shores and sandy beaches alternate along the shores of

This project delves into a sandy beach ecosystem, especially in regards to the intertidal zone, otherwise known as the “swash zone”. Although the intertidal is a very unstable habitat it is home to a variety of organisms which play a key role in the ecosystem. Mole crabs for examples thrive in this habitat between land and sea. Because many animals, including fish, and birds eat Mole crabs, they can serve as a major indicator species and can help to determine the health of the environment. During this project our goal is to prove whether or not it is true that the commonly larger female mole crabs are located lower in the swash zone than the generally smaller male mole crabs, and why this may or may not be. This goal brings us to our

These organisms were all well adapted to the environment and tidal condition of the rocky shore. They show zonation and inter-relationships; competition, predation and commensalism. The main abiotic factor of the rocky shore was the movement of the tide creating aerial exposure. Zonation at the rocky shore was distributed in very distinct horizontal bands that formed visible zones on the intertidal rock zones. This is due to