Whilst rock pooling you may encounter a range of organism
living on a variety of substrates.
Some organisms are only found where you have hard substrate because they need a hard surface on which to attach
and grow; whilst, others need to be able to burrow and are therefore confined
to sediments.
Often a reoccurring group of organism will be found on a particular
type of substrate at a particular position on the shore. This is because the
substrate type and its location on the shore correlate with many other
environmental variables that all interact to determine the distribution of
organisms on the shore.
One of the man influencing environmental variables is the
degree to which organisms are sheltered from waves and tidal currents, as this
in turn affects the deposition of sediments and determines the characteristic
substrate type, which in turn will determine which organisms can survive in
that particular area. Waves also have a direct impact on organisms, as large
waves can dislodge organisms. Consequently only those organisms that have
adaptations to reduce their chances of becoming dislodged are found in these
environments.
Habitat
classifications use the associations between reoccurring groups of organisms,
substrate type and wave exposure to describe variations in the communities
found on the shore.
In the posts that follow are images of habitats based on the JNCC habitat classification hierarchy
with a brief description of each, with emphasis on rocky shores.
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