Rockweed Geological, Chemical, and Physical Interactions

Geological - Rockweed inhabits all intertidal zones across all shores in the North Atlantic, ranging from North America all the way around Greenland to Northwest Europe. It uses holdfasts to attach itself to rocks along the rocky shores in these areas.

Chemical - Rockweed plays a major part in maintaining the quality of the water in its environment. It does this by removing nutrients as well as metals such as zinc, arsenic, and copper. In addition to this, rockweed converts inorganic nutrients like nitrate and phosphate, and converts it to organic matter using energy from the sun. This benefits the marine life that comes to graze on the rockweed so they can get vital nutrients, as well as live in good quality water. Rockweed also has a very high tolerance to temperature as well as a low tolerance to salinity. This is a determining factor in where rockweed lives.

Physical - Along rocky shores, parts of rockweed breaks off and gets deposited by the tides along the shore where it serves as a feeding ground for some bacteria as well as zooplankton and some invertebrates. This forms the basis of the marine food chain in the rocky shore environment. Rockweed also serves to provide shelter and protection to the organisms that use it as a home against predators, waves, as well as temperature fluctuations. In addition to this, rockweed is also used by humans as a fertilizer and a food source, and is harvested for these reasons.