Intertidal Zones

My group decided to study the difference in the amount of rock crabs in the upper intertidal zone, and the lower intertidal zone.

The Intertidal zone is the portion of the ocean shore under-water at high tide, and exposed at low tide.

The lower-intertidal zone is the portion exposed only at low tides.

The upper- intertidal zone is the portion immersed only at high tide.

Are there more rock crabs found in the upper-intertidal zone, or lower- intertidal zone?

We think that we will find a higher abundance of rock crabs in the lower-intertidal zone. We think that this could be because there is more water, meaning more food or because of the moisture. It is cooler than the rocks that have been sitting in the sun; it seems like the perfect habitat for rock crabs.

Results:

We found the average amount of rock crabs in the lower intertidal zone was 52/m^2, and the average amount of rock crabs in the upper intertidal zone was 39/m^2. There were more rock crabs in the lower intertidal zone.

Discussion

We found that there was a higher amount of rock crabs in the lower intertidal zone. This concludes that our hypothesis was correct.

The lower intertidal zone has more moisture, and is a more comfortable place for a rock crab to live. There also might be a higher amount of food in the area.

The results of our test might mean that crabs don’t like to be in the sun for long periods of time. They like to stay in cooler, places with water.

The amount of crabs in an area depends on temperature stress, and exposure (Stillman and Somero).

This study was important, because it is good to know about the different Intertidal zones, and the animals that live there. Some people think that they are just little crabs, but they are just as important to the ecosystem as all of the other, larger animals.