Biodiversity: Sponges

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Biodiversity Sponges
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Biodiversity mussels (Mytilus)
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attached, filter feeder
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Biodiversity barnacles - Pelicipes
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Biodiversity barnacles - Balanus
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Biodiversity Limpits
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Biodiversity chiten
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Biodiversity Littorine Snails
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Biodiversity Predatory Snails - Nucella
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Biodiversity Anemones
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Biodiversity Decapods
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Biodiversity Starfish
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Feeding Starfish
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Biodiversity Urchins
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Multiple factors influence distribution
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Settlement, establishment, competition
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Rocky intertidal patchiness
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Plum Island
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Plum Island south jetty wave action
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Plum Island groin
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Beach erosion, Plum Island
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Plum Island, 1972, 2008
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Lost docks, Florida
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Issues

• What are the challenges of sandy, intertidal
  habitats?
• What are the major influences on the physical
  environment?
• What are the characteristic organisms?
• How do humans influence these habitats?

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Key elements defining sandy, intertidal habitats

• Wave action
• Slope
• Particle size
• Organic matter in interstitial spaces
• Oxygen Content

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strong vs. weak wave action
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wave action on sandy beaches
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nutrients in sediments
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Sand crab
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Fiddler Crab
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Conch
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Starfish
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Brittle Star
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Sanderling on wrack
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Turnstone
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sandy beach beasts
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Interstitial Animals I
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Interstitial Animals II
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beach life zones
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Beach ecosystems illustrate dynamic balance

• Coastal geomorphology
• Processes of deposition
• Processes of removal
• Dynamics of transport many scales of space
  time

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Beach erosion
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Large scale loss of shoreline
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Hatteras Lighthouse before move
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Shoreline change
                         1844 to 18901891 to
1938 1939 to 1978
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Causes of shoreline change

• Natural
• Storms
• Sea level rise (1 ft per 100 years, currently)
• Human-induced
• Interruption of sediment sources
• Interruption of longshore sediment transport
• Examples
• armoring (seawalls, revetments, bulkheads)
• construction of groins and jetties

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Beach protection