Open Ocean
Are oceanic or neritic food chains longer? Which food chain is more efficient?
Oceanic food chains are longer. Therefore, neritic food chains are more efficient.
1. Biomass ________ as depth increases.
2. Benthic diversity is typically ______.
3. Benthic diversity ______ as latitude increases.
1. decreases
2. high
3. decreases
What are the 3 sections/sectors of an estuary?
1. upper
2. middle
3. lower
What are 3 defining characteristics of coastal ecosystems?
1. highly productive
2. diverse habitats
3. dynamic ecosystems
In soft sediment habitats, is competition between suspension feeders and deposit feeders significant or limited?
What are the depth zones of the ocean in order from surface to seafloor? What characteristic defines the first 3 zones?
1. Epipelagic - photic zone
2. Mesopelagic - biologically active
3. Bathypelagic - bulk of volume in ocean
4. Abyssopelagic
Deep sea organisms have many adaptations that allow them to live in these extreme conditions.
1. Some organisms have adapted to have large eyes or bioluminescence due to the lack of ______.
2. Some organisms have adapted to have decreased metabolism or gigantism due to the decreased ______.
3. Some organisms lack a swim bladder or have a gelatinous body due to increased _______ pressure.
1. light
2. temperatures
3. hydrostatic
What is the difference between a spring and neap tide?
Spring tides are very high because the sun, moon, and earth are aligned, amplifying the gravitational force. Neap tides are very low because the sun, moon, and earth form a right angle, causing the gravitational forces to cancel out.
1. Seagrass meadows occur in _______ waters because they require light for photosynthesis.
2. Seagrass grows in nutrient ______ waters.
3. Seagrasses lack _____ which allows gases to diffuse across their leaves.
4. Seagrasses have ________ root systems.
1. shallow
2. poor
3. stomata
4. rhizome
While there is limited competition between organisms living in soft bottom sediments for food resources, there is high competition between infaunal organisms for _______.
Space - it is best to burrow because low tide is stressful, so there is competition between organisms trying to utilize space in the sediment.
What physical factors are phytoplankton blooms dependent on? (there are 3 major ones)
1. Mixing of ocean water
2. Increasing day length
3. Warming air
Particulate organic matter is categorized into 3 main categories. What are they?
1. fecal pellets
2. Molts/sinking carcasses
3. amorphous aggregates (or "marine snow" or phytodetritus)
Estuaries exhibit _______ biomass and ______ productivity but ______ species diversity.
1. high
2. high
3. low
List 3 benefits of seagrass meadows. (There are 5 possible benefits to chose from)
1. clean water
2. Traps sediment and CO2
3. Enhances biodiversity
4. Enhances productivity
5. Aesthetics - "Monami"
What are 2 adaptations mangroves have that allow them to live in anoxic, salty sediments?
1. Shallow root depth
2. old leaves store salt and then fall off
What are the names of the 3 major pumps that drive the biological carbon pump?
1. Vertical migration pump
2. Physical mixing pump
3. Gravitational settling pump
How do hydrothermal vents work? (there are 3 "stages")
1. hot magma chambers heat up water
2. superheated water (NOT the magma) erupts out of the seabed
3. fume cloud forms containing minerals
What are the 2 types of organisms that can be found within estuaries? 2 "groups" were provided in lecture.
1. osmoregulatory
2. halophytes
What are the 4 benefits of biogenic structures?
1. Increased surface area
2. Increased number of hiding places (protection from predators)
3. Increased variety of "microenvironments"
4. Modified hydrodynamics (protection from wave exposure)
1. In areas with high wave action or turbulence, sediment grain size is _____.
2. Along sheltered shores (so little wave action), fine _____ and _____ are accumulated.
1. large
2. silt and clay
What happens to each of the following factors as depth INCREASES?
1. Nitrogen concentration (nutrients)
2. Light
3. Chlorophyll A
4. Organic matter (particulate organic carbon)
5. Temperature
1. increase
2. decrease
3. peaks at pycnocline, then decreases
4. decreases
5. decreases
List the stages of a whale fall in order AND provide a simple explanation of what happens in each stage.
1. Mobile-scavenger stage: soft tissue (muscle and blubber) is removed from the carcass
2. Enrichment-opportunist stage: animals feed on leftover scraps of meat and blubber
3. Sulphophilic stage: chemoautotrophic bacteria produce H2S (used by other sulphophilic bacteria for energy)
4. Reef stage: structures are built on mineral remnants of the skeleton
Match each type of estuary to its appropriate picture.
*Megan will show picture
Refer to slides 11-19 from the Estuaries lecture for answers.
Explain the top-down control that is observed in kelp forests. Include the example of otters, sea urchins, and kelp in your answer.
Sea otters feed on sea urchins, and sea urchins feed on kelp. When the orca was introduced into the ecosystem, the sea otter population declines and the sea urchin population increases. This destroys kelp forests as they are being eaten by urchins. So, lower otter population = less kelp (because otters are not eating urchins) and higher otter populations - more kelp (because otters are regulating herbivory affects of urchins on kelp).
What are the ecological roles of mangrove crabs? There are 4.
1. Bury, consume leaf litter
2. Modify particle size, nutrient availability, particle distribution
3. Bioturbation aerates soil (legs poke holes, dig burrows)
4. Crab feces feed suspension feeders, drawing nutrients into sediments