Rocky Shore

The rocky shore biome is a fascinating ecosystems that is packed with a wide variety of marine organisms. During high tide in the intertidal zone the shore is engulfed by sea water and pounded by reoccurring waves, conversely during low tides the shore is exposed to dry heat and air. Plants and animals that thrive in this biome have adapted in such ways to cope against freshwater and saline water, as well as maintaining body water during dry periods and withstanding high salinity when submerged underwater. Animals in this biome are categorized as mobile animals or sedentary animals. Mobile animals are very active moving along with the tides, they can retreat into gulleys and under rocks when faced with stressful environments. Mobile animals include crabs, small fishes, and sea lice. Sedentary animals on the other hand survive best in narrow range condition to which they are adapted, they spend their lives attached to rocks preventing them from being washed away by waves, gaining most of their nutrients from filtration of small particles found in water.

In this investigation the abiotic and biotic factors of the rocky shores were measured using the line transect technique, and prior to setting up the transect the shore was throughly surveyed for it's geographical features. The abiotic factors that were collected included temperature, wave frequency, wind direction, aspect, and light intensity. After the abiotic factors were collected seven quadrats were placed along the line transect and the biotic factors of each quadrat was collected. The collected biotic factor include crabs, periwinkle, barnacles, and knobbed snails, and the distribution of these organisms could be greatly impacted by human disturbances including a pathway built on the rocky shore, as well as a few visible fishing boats docked in the vicinity.

Table 1: Abiotic Factors Rocky Shore (Green Turtle)

Graph 1: Biotic Factors Rocky Shore (Green Turtles)

The abundance of each organism was modeled using the kite diagram. In this part of the investigation seven quadrat was laid down the line transect facing the rocky shore. According to this data there was a abundance in sedentary animals such as barnacles, periwinkles, and knobbed snails, which heavily populate the rocky shore, conversely there is a scarcity in motile animals such as the crab. The explanation for this distribution is because sedentary animals are stationary and exposed to predator with minimum protection, therefore more offsprings are produced during reproduction to ensure survival of the particular organism. On the other hand there is a scarcity in motile animals because they relie on factors such as evasiveness and camouflage hide from predator, so it is harder to detect these organisms. In conclusion the distribution of organism in the rocky shore vary greatly and could be explained using both abiotic and biotic factors.