Ecological Factors

Abstract

Any attempt to understand and interpret the zonation to be observed on a rocky coast or on a salt marsh must be based upon an appreciation of the different ecological factors and the part that they play. It may be expected that more than one factor will normally exert a controlling influence, but at one time of the year or at a certain phase in the life history of an organism one single factor may become paramount. It has also become increasingly evident that a proper appreciation of some of the factors cannot be divorced from a study of the physiology of the algae. Certain aspects of algal physiology must therefore be discussed in this connexion rather than in the chapter on physiology.