FNR 45400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Particle Size, Estuary, Tide Pool

• School: Purdue University
• Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
• Course: FNR 45400
• Professor: Goforth

Document Summary

Terms to know: ecocline- a gradual, continuous change in the species composition between two ecosystems or communities of organisms across an environmental gradient, fetch- the horizontal distance over which wave-generating winds blow, anoxic- area of depleted dissolved oxygen. Shorelines set up ecoclines that both intersect and interact allowing specific habitat types to form. The physical and physiological abilities of organisms, as well as the competition between these organisms for space and resources, allows them to exist in the different gradients. There are four main environmental gradients seen in shores: wet/dry interface, wave action exposure, substratum particle size, and salinity. Wetness/dryness is the gradient at the tension between air and the surface of the water. This interface exists regardless of the presence of wave or tidal action. The land farther from the water surface is typically drier than the land closer to the water surface.