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The Subtidal3 Sampling the Benthic Habitat Bottom trawlsGrabsDredges
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The Subtidal 1
The Subtidal
Life on the Continental Shelf
The Subtidal 2
The Continental Shelf
The Subtidal 3
Sampling the Benthic Habitat
•Bottom trawls•Grabs •Dredges
The Subtidal 4
The Continental Shelf What we know about this community:
Very few species are dominant and constitute most of the biomass
Parallel bottom communities Many analogies can be drawn to similar areas
Different species but are ecologically equivalent These communities are extremely stable over time Animals are distributed in a patchy manner and
organisms occur at various depths in the substrate
The Subtidal 5
Abiotic Factors Species distribution varies from the
poles to the tropics
Shallow water is affected by currents and wave action
Nutrients are not limiting
The Subtidal 6
Soft-bottom Subtidal Communities
This substrate dominates the worlds continental shelves Animals are distributed in this
community based on sediment particle size, stability of the sediment, light and temperature
Organisms usually occur in patches, due to planktonic settlement
Metamorphose and “tasting settlement sites”
The Subtidal 7
Unvegetated Soft-bottom Communities
Notable is absence of large plants and algae There is little primary
production so the filter feeders and suspension feeders rely on detritus brought from estuaries
Deposit feeders and bacteria dominate fine sediments due to high organic content
The Subtidal 8
Seagrass beds Areas that are
carpeted by flowering plants
They develop best in sheltered shallow areas along the coast
Eel grass is our most common representative
The Subtidal 9
Seagrasses Thick mats of eel grass
provide lots of habitat for animals to hide
By stabilizing the sediment it decreases the turbidity Dead sea grasses
provide lots of detritus that benefit suspension, deposit and filter feeders
The Subtidal 10
Sea Grass Food Web
The Subtidal 11
Rocky subtidal bottoms and Kelp Forests
Animals that are present have the same characteristics as those of the rocky intertidal
Kelp is a macroalgae which can reach amazing sizes
The Subtidal 12
Kelp and Kelp Forests