As part of our Introduction to Oceanography class this Spring 2011 semester at Norwich University, our group will be researching and presenting on plants and animals that live in an ecosystem called 'The Rocky Shore'.
We have four group members:
patrick mcmahon, chris hein, _name_, and Daniel Taylor
Each member of our group will be reporting on a different marine organism that lives in the rocky shore ecosystem. One will be a zooplankton, one a phytoplankton, one a marine invertebrate, and one a marine vertebrate.
As part of an integrated approach, we will be researching how our organisms interact with the other aspects of the ocean system (geological, physical, and chemical).
***Note to groups:
Once you have accepted the invitation to join this blog, I will check back and grant you admin permissions, you will then be able to edit this post to include your name in one of the placeholders above. (You will also all be able to edit the same post - to add your individual information -- for future assignments).
Your next task is to comment on this post (after you click 'publish post', then click 'view post' and a comment box will be available). Your comment should introduce yourself in more detail, say what you would like, but be sure to at least include your year and major. Also say which marine organism you will be investigating.
Finally, the last person to add should delete these instructions.
Hi! My name is Professor Harris. I am the teacher for this class. I will be checking in with the group from time to time. Hopefully you enjoy learning about this marine ecosystem and some of the organisms that live there as much as we do! If you have any questions, send them our way!
ReplyDeleteHi. My names Pat. Im from Long Island, New York and am currently a sophmore criminal justice major. I will be researching zooplankton that live on rocky shores and have krill as one of my samples so far.
ReplyDeleteI think krill live further away from the shore.
ReplyDeleteHey my names Chris and I'm from Baltimore, Maryland. I'm a sophomore and a criminal justice major. I will be researching marine vertebrates that live on or around rocky shores and have marine birds as one of my examples so far. I know that they might not "live" there but they do eat there.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.oceaninn.com/the-nature-preserve/the-rugged-rocky-shore/ This website has information about rocky shores such as organisms and the different zones of the rocky intertidal such as the barnacle zone, rockweed zone, and the red algae zone. Also, a general description of a rocky shore about lifen there is that when the tide is high, one might assume that nothing at all lives on or around these rocks, for nothing is visible. When the tide is ebbing, however, the rocks that the high tide had concealed comes into view, and are visibly marked by horizontal belts or colonies of similar species adapted to a twice daily exposure to air and sea, living where conditions for survival are best for them
ReplyDeleteI chose dogwelk larvae as my organism because it is a temporary zooplankton that lives on rockly shores. An adult dogwhelk, Nucella lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758), also called the Atlantic dogwinkle, is an intertidal snail with a solid, conical shaped shell. They generally have about six swollen whorls. The shell is usually about 3 cm high and 2 cm wide, but may grow up to 6 cm in height. They are usually white, but may also be yellow, brown or grey, and they sometimes have bands of alternating colors.
ReplyDeleteThey are common on the rocky coasts of the North Atlantic, from Long Island north to Greenland in the west, and from southern Portugal north to Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia and into the Siberian arctic on the eastern side. It normally feeds on barnacles and mussels. They are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs in which the embryos develops outside the mother's body. http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=536
I chose to do marine birds as my organisms because they can be found feeding off of other organisms that inhabit rocky shores. Marine birds don't get wet when they enter the water. They have a preening gland which secretes waxes and fats over the feathers to "waterproof" the bird. They also have salt glands in their body. This allows them to drink salt water, and sneeze the salt of out the water so it doesn't go into their body.
ReplyDeletehttp://marinediscovery.arizona.edu/lessonsF00/gobies/2.html
http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/seashore-a-rocky-seashore-ecosystem/98
ReplyDeleteSeashore life occurs in zones on the shore, according to how tolerant different species are of exposure to air and sunlight. Above the level of the highest tides is the splash zone, strongly affected by salt spray. The upper shore is not covered by every high tide, usually only those of spring tides. Very few species can tolerate the relatively dry conditions of the upper shore. Most seashore animals and plants live in the middle shore, the main area of the shore which is covered and uncovered by every tide. The lower shore is only exposed during the low tides of spring tides, and this is where many delicate species may be found – those that cannot withstand much exposure.
The seaweeds of a rocky shore grow in different areas – zones – depending on their ability out of the water. The animals show a similar zonation, but because they can move around it is not so obvious. Like the plants, the animals are greatly influenced by the tide. Some species live almost as land animals around the high water-mark of spring tides, and others are only briefly exposed to the open air at the low water-mark of spring tides.
My name is Dan. I'm a freshman computer security and information assurance major. For this project I will be researching phytoplankton. I will be researching rockweed which is a type of brown algae found on rocky shores.
ReplyDeleteI'm researching rockweed for this project. Rockweed is a type of large brown algae that lives on rocky shores by attaching itself to the rocks. It does not have real roots, stem, or leaves, but it absorbs nutrients from the water and from the sun through its leaf-like blades. Unlike some algae rockweed has a high tolerance to temperature, but also a great need for sun light. Rockweed is important to its ecosystem because it maintains the quality of the water where it is located. It removes metals and some nutrients to help maintain the water quality, as well as converting inorganic matter into organic which benefits animal life in the area.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rockweedcoalition.org/downloads/Functions_and_Values_of_Rockweeds_ME_DEP.pdf
Rocky shores are areas along the coast which are underwater at high tide, and above the waterline at low tide. Because of this, rocky shores are a very unique and diverse habitat. During periods of high tide, organisms living in this habitat are able to feed, but are also vulnerable to marine predators, whereas during low tide, organisms are vulnerable to terrestrial predators who come to feed. Species that live in this habitat are very tolerant to different conditions. There are different levels of this habitat in which a variety of creatures live.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.piscoweb.org/research/rocky-shores