Shallow Shorelines (Fig. 3.12)
•
Two major communities
– Coral reefs – Tropical
• Reef crest
• Reef Buttress
• Lagoon
– Kelp Forest – Temperate and above
• Need hard bottoms
Rocky Intertidals (Fig. 3.17)
• Defined by Vertical Zonation patterns
– Supratidal/Splash zone
– Upper intertidal
– Middle intertidal
– Lower intertidal
– Subtidal
• Wave action
• Biology
– Strong zonation patterns in organism occurrence
•
•
•
Salt Marshes, Estuaries and Mangrove Forests (Figs. 3.22, 3.24, 3.25)
Transitional environments
– Estuaries are transitions between freshwater rivers and saline bays
– Marshes and mangroves forests between land and water
Geography
– Marshes are generally temperate to polar
– Mangrove forests are limited to tropical and subtropical environments
Flowing Freshwater (Rivers and Streams) (Fig. 3.30)
Defined by longitudinal, vertical and horizontal zonation
– Longitudinal
• Pools and riffles
– Horizontal
• Wetted channel and active channel
– Vertical
• Water surface, water column, benthos
– Key characteristic defining all three dimensions is discharge (volume/unit time)
Lakes (Figs. 3.37, 3.38)
•
Many similiarities between lakes and oceanic systems
– Horizontal and vertical structure is similar
– Light, oxygen and temperature stratification is key characteristic
– Seasonality in temperate zones drives many of the biological characteristics