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Geosciences LibreTexts

14.15: Zoning and Extinction in Marine Communities

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    • Contributed by Miracosta Oceanography 101
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    Both physical and biological factors result in zoning of organisms in a specific environment.

    Each group of organisms are affected by physical and biological factors (listed above). These conditions exist within geographically definable areas ranging from large (entire oceans) to micro environments (such as a rock outcrop on a beach).

    Extinction results when all members of a species dies off. Die offs happen when a local community is disrupted by changes in physical and biological factors. A species will survive when those factors return to tolerable conditions, and a nearby population can supply offspring to repopulate a location. With climate change, many areas are loosing species, causing local extinctions. Another factor is the introduction of non-native species that either out-compete native species, or modify the environment that make a habitat intolerable for survival of native species.

    Mussels and sea life on a rock on Delmar Dog Beach, CA
    Figure 14.26. A lone rock on a beach is an example of a micro environment.
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