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14.17: Distribution of Organisms

  • Page ID
    10385
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    Distribution of Organisms: How are they distributed throughout an environmental setting?

    i. Random: rare in marine environment
    ii. Uniform: more common than random. Examples: eels in holes or penguins on nests
    iii. Clustered: most common schooling fish. Examples clusters of barnacles and mussels on rocks.
    iv. Zoned: species or community of species living together in a limited geographic range defined by physical and biological factors. Examples: oyster reef along an estuary with a limiting range in salinity.

    Most organisms in marine environment are ZONED or CLUSTERED.

    School of
    Figure 14.28. School of unicorn fish on a Hawaiian reef.

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