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The Intertidal | UnderH2O | PBS Digital Studios

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Decoding Cute Sea Otter Behaviour | Ocean Stories

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The Rocky Inter tidal Zone, sometimes called the "littoral zone" is home to the highest high tides and lowest low tides. Constant wave action occurs here and is mostly exposed to air which causes water loss so organisms of this habitat have adapted.

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This zone consists of hard and soft substrate with mud or sand at the bottom. The rocky shores occur on a steep coast without large amounts of sediment. A tide pool is created when a low tide occurs and exposed the organisms that live there.

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It is worth mentioning sea otters, as they are a predator towards urchins that migrate outwards towards the ocean. They themselves do not live in the ecosystem, but they inhabit rocky areas nearby that they are able to be a limiting factor in the environment.

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Urchins located in the rocky intertidal zone are herbivores which eat rock algaes and are preyed upon mainly by starfish. Covered in multiple spikes, some are toxic.

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Snails act as well as a decomposer for the ecosystem. Covered by a dense calcarius shell, these molluscs are preyed upon by animals such as sea birds which are able to break their shells open.

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Flatworms act as the main decomposers of the rocky intertidal zone, feeding on waste, bacteria, dead flora, and dead fauna which must be broken down in order to return nitrogen and carbon to the ecosystem. Many are parasitic.

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Sea birds such as gulls are the top predator in most intertidal zones. They mostly eat crabs, but as scavengers will also eat other smaller animals.

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Diatoms are the main food source for intertidal herbivores. A microscopic form of planktonic algae, diatoms often start the food chain in the area and produce oxygen to be dissolved into the water around it.

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Seaweed is a type of green algae that acts as one of the main food sources for herbivores in the area.

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Chitons are omnivorous molluscs that feed on algae, barnacles, and other small prey that lives nearby. They live of harder substrate and are also prey to starfish.

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Crabs are a species of arthropod which live in the sands and rocks of the intertidal zone. Eating smaller animals, such as tiny fish that drift into the area, they act as a limiting factor on populations. They are also scavengers, which allows for a clean up of dead matter.

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Starfish are a commonly found entity in intertidal zones. Feeding on muscles and urchins, starfish act as the most recognizable predator within tidepools and underneath rocky tides.

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Every ecosystem consists of limiting factors, which creates a population cap on a species in an area. For the rocky intertidal zone, such factors include:
☸Access to fresh water
☸Oxygen, which is caused by low tide exposing gill dependent organisms to the atmosphere
☸The erosion of rocks and sediments
☸General exposure from low tide, which allows not only for limited oxygen but also for exposure to predators
☸Wave action that may hurt to flora or fauna
☸Nitrogen
☸Space, hence verticle zonation

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Flora and fauna have adapted to the conditions of the rocky tidal zone in multiple ways;
☸Burrowing
☸Clumping together into groups
☸Clinging to and attaching to rocks
☸The use of shells and other forms of protection
☸Run-and-hide strategies
☸Verticle zonation

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Carnivores: Sea Stars, Fishes, and birds
Grazers: Limpets, Chitons, and sea urchins
Scavengerrs: Crabs, amphipods
Filter Feeders: Mussels, Barnacles
Detritus
Producers: Seaweeds, Diatoms, sea grasses

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The rocky intertidal zone consists of large and sometimes jagged rocks. Steeper coastlines are often the result of more recent tectonic activity, composed of minerals such as granite. Lower levels of sediment are located here than when compared to beaches.