Living Together: Rocky Intertidal Zone, The: Challenges and Adaptations
The intertidal zone contains a rich abundance of diverse organisms, despite a multitude of challenges, from pounding waves and temperature fluctuation to competition for scarce resources. Nonetheless, many organisms manage to not only survive but to...
Living Together: Estuaries: Productivity and Vulnerability
Estuaries and wetlands are among the most productive areas anywhere, literally teeming with life. But these environments are often threatened by nutrient discharge from agricultural or farm land, as well as the building of homes or other forms of de...
Living Together: Symbiotic Relationships
The relationship between some of the algae and animals living in a coral reef is symbiotic, meaning the two species live together. Symbiotic relationships between residents of coral reefs or other communities can be mutually beneficial, but that is ...
Living Together: Marine Communities: Change and Bio-Diversity
For communities in the marine environment, change is an ongoing reality. Bio-diversity, which refers to the number of species and relative abundance of different species within a community, offers the best chance for community survival.
Living Together: Coral Reefs: Structures and Communities
Sometimes referred to as the rain forest of the sea, coral reefs are home to a diverse array of producers, consumers and scavengers. Collectively, these comprise a dynamic ecosystem that is, in every sense of the word, a community.
Living Together: Threats to Coral Reefs
Symbiosis within a reef community can be threatened by a number of factors. These include severe storms, nutrient discharge from farming and agriculture, and a process known as bleaching, which may be related to global warming.
Living Together: Hydrothermal Vents: Life in the Extreme
Hydrothermal vents were discovered by the submersible Alvin in 1977. They are sometimes characterized as deep ocean hot springs found thousands of feet beneath the surface. Hydrothermal vents are of great interest because of their circulation proces...