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Habitat Notes Habitat • A place where organisms naturally live & grow. • Plants & animals that interact & depend on each other & require similar growing conditions. Benthic • Pertaining to the ocean floor. 8 Habitats in the Chesapeake Bay 1. Open Water 2. Piers, Rocks & Jetties 3. Ocean Beach 4. Sand Dunes 5. Maritime Forest 6. Intertidal Flats 7. Salt Marsh 8. Oyster Bars 1. Open Water • Deep water environment which houses a variety of organisms – from dolphins to clams. • Challenges: Breathing underwater, lots of predators • Adaptations: Counter shading, torpedo shape, transparency, small size, gills 2. Piers, Rocks & Jetties • Solid structures in the surf zone that animals attach & cling to. • Challenges: Pounding waves, competition for space, low tide – drying out & predators. • Adaptations: Holdfasts, sturdy shells, streamlined bodies Piers, Rocks & Jetties 3. Ocean Beach • Where the ocean touches the shore. • Challenges: Erosion from wind & waves, very little shelter from elements, not many plants. • Adaptations: Ability to burrow, streamlined body for burrowing (clams), shells, ability to move quickly 4. Sand Dunes • Wind-built, shifting hills of sand by the beach. Plants anchor & preserve the dunes. • Challenges: Erosion from wind, very little shelter from elements, hot & dry. • Adaptations: long roots to get water, long thin leaves to minimize exposure, thick waxy leaves for protection, tall so it won’t get buried, animals - ability to burrow Sand Dunes 5. Maritime Forest Maritime Forest • Forest w/ conifer & deciduous trees, scrub & flowers. Often close to or part of an old Dune area. • Challenges: Salt spray, storms, erosion, salt water flooding, not much fresh water • Adaptations: Camouflage, deep roots, waxy leaves • First Landing State Park & Back Bay 6. Intertidal Flats • Muddy environment that emerges & submerges with tides. • Challenges: Shifting mud & sand, low oxygen, predators during low tide. • Adaptations: Ability to burrow, siphons opening to air, shells, ability to live inside another animal. 7. Salt Marsh • Also called wetlands which provides protected spawning, nursery, & feeding grounds. • Challenges: changes in salinity, tides. • Adaptations: plants can excrete salt, ability to move up & down grasses during tide changes. Salt Marsh 8. Oyster Bars • Community of oysters that help filter pollutants out of the water & house many other organisms. • Challenges: exposed during low tide • Adaptations: thick shells