Marine Life
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- biodiversity (species, genetic, ecosystem)
-
is “the collection of gene pools, species, and ecosystems occuring in a geographically defined region.â€
Biodiversity is measured according to:
1. genetic diversity: diversity of genes within a species. There is a genetic variability among the populations and the individuals of the same species
2. species diversity: diversity among species in an ecosystem
3. ecosystem diverstiy: diversity at a higher level of organization, the ecosystem. To do with the variety of ecosystems on Earth. - phytoplanton*
- base unit of most food chains, creates its own food, photosynthesize
- zooplankton*
- plankton cannot produce its own food and relies on food produced by other organisms, drifitng marine animals
- nekton
- swimmers, most adult fish and squid (many are plankton in larval stage), marine mammals and some humans
- benthic/demersal species*
-
bottom dwellers
- including coral, crabs, sea urcins, starfish, most shellfish
- some fish that live primarily in marine sediments are also considered benthid (e.g. flounder)
- another term for bottom-dwelling species is demersal - marine env. factors
-
temperature
salinitiy
dissolved gases
light (transparency)
pressure
nutrients - oceanic biozones: neritic, oceanic
-
neritic: part of pelagic, extends 200 meters deep
oceanic: further out to sea, goes beyond 200 meters, broken into 4 zones - photic/euphotic*
- zone where photosynthesis is possible is the photic, usually about 100m
- disphotic
- between photic and aphotic zones, no plant life exists b/c not enough sunlight
- pelagic*
- the ocean water itself, where floaters and swimmers frolic in a complex food web
- benthic
- refers to the ocean bottom, where marine algae and animals do not usually float or swim
- bioluminescence
- can produce light organically, 50% of deep sea fish, use special cells to produce light
- primary productivity*
- rate at which energy is stored by organisms through the formation of organic matter using solar or chemical reactions
- photosynthesis
- reaction in which energy from the Sun is stored in organic molecules
- diatoms*
- type of algae, most abundant primary producers, most productive group of marine algae, contained in a "test"
- dinoflagellates
- another type of algae that is able to move around into areas for better photosynthesis
- red tides
- occurs whnere there are too many dinoflagellates in one area, causes oxygen to be used up and results in many marine organisms suffocating to death, can also be called a "harmful algal bloom"
- dead zones*
- occur in large areas of eutrophication, occure near the mouths of major rivers after large spring runoffs, oxygen levels drop like whoa; dead zone at the end of the Mississsippi River from nutrients from agricultural runoff
- food chains/webs
- sequence of organisms through which energy is transferred, starting with an organism that is a primary producer, thena herbivore, then a carnivore and then a top carnivore
- trophic levels*
- a feeding stage, one animal eats another animal; blue whale eats krill TROPHIC LEVEL, transfer of energy inefficient between trophic levels
- biomass pyramid
- number of individuals and total biomass decreases at successive trophic levels because amount of available energy decreases, usually larger animals as you go up the pyramid