Upper, Middle, and Lower Intertidal Zones
Key Vocabulary
Formation of Rocky Shores
Experimental Ecology & Importance of Long-Term Studies
100

Are the organisms in the upper intertidal zone adapted to air exposure?

True

100

What means "slow sinking"

What is "subsiding"?

100

How are they (rocky shores) characterized by?

What is "by steep slopes and minimal sediment accumulation, making them unsuitable for burrowing"?

100

What are all the biological factors in the intertidal as mentioned in the powerpoint?

Competition, predator-prey, and symbiosis

200

Which zone is covered by many different species of seaweeds that form a thick carpet on the rocks?

The lower intertidal zones.

200

What is the regular replacement of species by others in each area?

What is "ecological succession"?

200

How are they (rocky shores) formed by?

What is "by geological processes such as uplifting, volcanic activity, or erosion of softer rocks"?

200

What experiments involve moving an organism or organisms to different levels of the intertidal zone?

Transplantation experiments

300

Can predators and prey both reach the upper intertidal zone?

No, only a few predators can.

300

What is the pattern of banding caused by intertidal organisms growing only at a particular height within the intertidal

What is "vertical zonation"?

300

What are animals lviing on the surface of the substrate of rocky shores identified as?

What is "epifauna"?

300

What experiments are used to find a species' lower boundary?

Removal experiments

400

Can some organisms completely dominate the lower zones?

False

400

What is a predatory species whose effects on its community are proportionately much greater than its abundance?

What is "keystone predator"?

400

How are rocky intertidal communities usually divided into?

What is "distinct bands, or zones"

400

While caging experiments do allow for the study of organisms in their own environment, what else are they known for?

By keeping out organisms, such as when scientists kept spiny lobsters out of their environment to see what their role in the intertidal communities of Channel Islands, off the coast of California was by isolating them from their environment.
500
What is the difference between a diurnal tide and a semidiurnal tide?

Whereas in a diurnal tide, the organisms are exposed once a day, whereas in a semidiurnal tide, the organisms are exposed twice a day.

500

What is a gas-filled bladder in seaweeds?

What is "pneumatocyst"?

500

How are rocky shores formed?

What is "by geological processes like uplifting, volcanic activity, or erosion of softer rocks"

500

Have transportation, removal, and caging experiments only become an effective tool for ecologists only in the intertidal?

No, as they have become an important tool for ecologists not only in the intertidal but in many other environments, as they're so effective.