Further up the beach, Marine organisms have less time to effectively absorb oxygen and food. When they are left marooned without the supporting water they also have more difficulty eating suspended particles, but to also swim, crawl and walk. Large and irregular fluctuations in the beach environment make it difficult for organisms to predict changes that may occurr. This makes specialization and adaptebility difficult. Draining of the beach area creates a lot of strain amongst beach organisms. There are also gradients that vary with depth. Pressure increases rapidly and already at a depth of 10 m it is double of that at the surface. Most organisms do not have any gas filled cavities that can be compressed and therefore are effected only marginally by the pressure gradient. Those fish that have swim bladders can usually keep its volume constant by releasing gas with pressure reductions when swimming towards the surface and filling with gas when pressure increases when swimming deeper. Page 19 of 52
Cliffs and rocks are fantastic!
Zoning and flecked occurrence
Animals that are attached
Modular construction
Variation and change
Variations in water level
Wave exposure
Both cliffs and rocks
Freshwater and saltwater
Geography, climate and history
Organisms life cycles
Organisms effect on each other
Energy and the flow of material

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Bo Johannesson | Martin Larsvik | Lars-Ove Loo | Helena Samuelsson