1. Intertidal Ecosystem

2. What does intertidal mean?
Between the tides
-Intertidal Ecosystems: land between the high tide and low tide

3. What do all intertidal ecosystems have in common?
-Constantly changing environment
-Submerged part of the day
-Exposed part of the day
-Home to extremophiles

4. Two Major Types
-Rocky Intertidal
-Sandy Shores

5. Rocky Intertidal

7. Observe Rocky Intertidal

8. Key Characteristics of the Rocky Intertidal
Foundation: Bare rocks and/or rocks covered in algae
-At low tide, the rock is exposed leaving tidepools

9. Key Characteristics of the Rocky Intertidal
Tidepools: As the water ebbs to reach low tide, pools of water are left behind in the crevices created by the rocks

10. What environmental stressors do organisms of the Rocky Intertidal?
Waves
Temperature changes
Salinity Changes
Air exposure
Dessication
Fully submerged

11. Sandy Shore Intertidal

13. Observe Sandy Shore Intertidal

14. Key Characteristics Foundation:
- sand grains, crushed shells, smaller pebbles
Usually bordered by coastal grasses and plants
Reshaped Daily, how?

15. Sand Can be classified by : Grain size Color Composition
Morphology (angularity and shape)
Surface texture

16. It’s not all it appears to be

17. It’s not all it appears to be

18. Environmental Issues

19. Beach Combing
-Individuals or groups taking things of interest from the beach
How can this have a negative impact on the environment?

20. Removal of Beach Wrack
Beach Wrack: Seaweed that is brought in by the tides and left on the beach
-People will remove beach wrack because it is not visually appealing
Why do you think removing beach wrack can have a negative affect on the environment?

21. Trespassing onto Sensitive Breeding Areas
Many endangered birds and turtles breed on the sandy shore
-If people are not careful, they can trample and destroy birds nests and turtles nest

22. Organisms of the Intertidal

23. Organisms of the Intertidal
Seaweed (kingdom Protista) Class Bivalvia (phylum Mollusca) Class Gastropoda (phylum Mollusca) Class Crustacean (phylum Arthropoda) Phylum Echinodermata

24. Phycology: The study of seaweed
Three different types of seaweed:
Phylum Ochrophyta
Phylum Rhodophyta
Phylum Chlorophyta
What commonality do you see in the names?
Phyta: plank like (photosynthesizers)
What differences do you see in the names?

25. Phycology: The study of seaweed
Three different types of seaweed:
Phylum Ochrophyta (Brown Seaweed, middle)
Phylum Rhodophyta (Red seaweed, deepest)
Phylum Chlorophyta (Green Seaweed, most shallow)
Thinking about light, why might you find green as the shallowest and red as the deepest?

26. Phylum Chlorophyta (Green Seaweed)
-Chlorophyll makes them green
-Attach to rocks in the Rocky Intertidal
-Acts as a primary producer

27. Human Use of Green Algae
-Method of helping to cure cancer
-Biofilter
-Food
-Biodiesel

28. Gastropoda: What do you observe?

29. Gastropoda -“stomach foot” -Soft body usually surrounded by one shell
-Some have completely lost their shells (sea slugs)

30. Gastropoda Anatomy If Shell is present
Torsion: shell and body is coiled
Operculum: Trap door that can seal the snail in its shell

31. Nudibranchs the Unshelled Gastropoda
-Nudi: Naked, Branch: Gills, Naked Gills
New Defenses:
-Ink Swimming
-Noxious Chemicals -Strong Senses

32. Crustaceans

33. Crustaceans
-Exoskeleton and jointed appendages

34. Crustacean Growth
-Crustaceans grow but their exoskeleton does not grow with them
Solution: Molting
Peels back the carapace and crawls out of the old exoskeleton
Finds a place to hide while it hardens
Shell hardens and Crustacean is mobile again

35. Bivalvia: Clams, Scallops, Mussels, etc. What do you observe?

36. Bivalvia -Two Shells that encloses a soft body
-Shells are mirror image of each other (bilaterally symmetrical)
-Usually (not always) sedentary

37. Bivalve Anatomy Mussel Gills: Used for breathing and feeding
Adductor Muscle: enables bivalves to tightly shut their shells
Mantle: Fleshy body of the mussel.
Foot

38. What do the rings mean?

39. Importance to Intertidal Communities?
Why might the second picture be more productive than the first picture? What are the mussels doing to enhance the environment?

40. Importance to Intertidal Communities?
-Bivalves, especially Mussels, colonize and cover the rocks
Providing food
Provides texture for the rock meaning more space for other organisms to live

41. How to tell of a Bivalve met its fateful end
Sea Otter
Crab
Moon Snail
Sea Star

42. Invasive Species -Species that are non-native to a specific location
-Thrive in the new environment
Outcompete native species for food
No natural Predators
Can potentially destroy an environment

43. Freshwater Invasive Species
-clog pipes
-increase drag on boats
-sink buoys
Introduction:
Ship Ballast water

44. Echinodermata “Spiny Skin”
-Pentaradial Symmetry
-Hydrostatic skeleton for movement
-Can sense light and dark
-have the ability to regenerate

46. Major Groups of Echinoderms
-Sea Stars
-Sea Cucumbers
-Sand Dollars
-Sea Urchins
-Feather Stars

47. Sea Star Anatomy Coloring

48. Overarching Question
Should we restrict people’s access to intertidal ecosystems to keep biodiversity?

49. Case Studies
Human Impact on Intertidal Zones
Tourism