Procedure:
1. Since Race Rocks has n o trees, you may not think that the vertical distribution of the ecosystem is very important. Here elevation is a major feature however, as it determines perches for safe lookouts for birds and spaces to haul out for the marine mammals so that they are out of the range of waves and rough sea conditions.
For instance, here is the favorite perch of the peregrine falcon (on the FM antenna). Between October and December, in the mornings you may be able to find one perched here by checking on the robotic camera 5 ( use the top of the tower preset). Be sure to add it as a new sighting in the OceanQuest GIS. You may however, scan around the islands looking for other examples of the importance of elevation. Record them with your description on the GIS. |
| 2. Go to this file with the dichotomous key for help in identification of birds and mammals. |
3.  Down on the ground where grasses and other vegetation exists, or in and around tidepools, there is vertical stratification even though the complete profile is only several centimeters in height. On Race Rocks, even the profile of the rocks has an effect of changing temperatures and humidity. See this lab done by students, showing the stratification of abiotic factors in tidepools. Describe in your own words what abiotic factors influence the distribution of organisms in tidepools.
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4.  Not only abiotic factors, but of course biotic factors also have a role in determining the vertical structure of ecosystems. In this picture taken on the West side of Race Rocks at a very low tide, you can see how the pulled back overhanging canopy of the green surfgrass Phyllospadix, creates the shelter necessary for a variety of invertebrate species. Go here for other intertidal images from this area.
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| 5. Vertical profiles in the Ocean with a Zooplankton Aquatic Profiler: A file to be added here introduces this instrument which will be deployed in the summer of 2006 at the tidal current turbine site.. |
| 6. Remember that an ecosystem may also extend below the ground level, so that temperature and water moisture levels are important factors influencing the distribution of species. We will soon add a file here that supports this idea. |
| 7. Now that you may have a better idea how to look for the effects of vertical structure on ecosystems, design your own protocol for analyzing the effect that vertical stratification has on the abiotic factors affecting a species of an ecosystem you can study locally. |
Not only abiotic factors, but of course biotic factors also have a role in determining the vertical structure of ecosystems. In this picture taken on the West side of Race Rocks at a very low tide, you can see how the pulled back overhanging canopy of the green surfgrass Phyllospadix, creates the shelter necessary for a variety of invertebrate species. Go here for other intertidal images from this area.
