Benthic Ecology Flashcards
What do wood turtles do in winter?
They hibernate in mud during winter and breath through there butt. But a mini winter thaw can cause major flooding and kill them as they get flushed downstream into deep water
Do invertebrates like ice?
Not really, they try to avoid it. Tomcod incubate there eggs in frazil ice but ice scour wash most organisms eggs away. Species will hide in substrate or go to deep pools that don’t freeze. But some will try to find areas of increased ice cover because there is less predation (Therefore restricted by ice unless highly adapted).
What are benthic organisms?
Organisms that live in or on the seafloor
What is a biofilm?
Mix of micro-organisms in polysaccharide matrix on a living or inert surface
What are the five benthic macro invertebrates?
Porifera: Sponges
Mollusca: Gastropoda (snails), Bivalvia (Mussels)
Annelida: Worms
Crustacea: Shrimp, cray fish
Insecta: Most diverse
What are the six insecta groups?
Ephemeroptera: Mayflies (3 tails)
Plecoptera: Stoneflies (2 tails)
Trichoptera: Caddisflies (usually cased)
Chironomids: Bloodworm, midge
Simuliids: Blackflies
Odonata: Dragonflies
What three insecta are indicators of good stream health and are used in BMI surveys?
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera
What orders are biting insects? What groups do they include
Order Diptera (true flies)
- Simiuliidae (black flies), Culicidae (Misquito), Ceratopogonidae (biting midges), Tabanidae (dear and horse flies)
Order odonate
- Anisoptera (dragonflies), Zygoptera (damesflies)
What are some adaptations of Benthos?
Flattened or streamlined body, hooks and grapples, suckers, filtering structures.
Why are freshwater mussels a management concern?
They are an indicator of water quality and are endangered (200/300sp endangered or extinct). Can live to be 200 years old and can be crazy parasites. Muskrats love to eat them
What are some species of mussels?
Eastern Floater, pearl shell, elliptio, brook floater and creeper
How do mussels reproduce?
They put sperm in water and mussels siphon it into their body to fertilize their internal eggs. The glochidia or larva is then released into the water where it attached to fish gills and fins until they have developed into juvenile (some sp lure fish in then shoot out the larva)(Eastern Pearl Shell like trout and salmon hosts)
Why are mussels at risk?
Because of drought and dams water is getting more shallow and hot. Additionally, when dams put up fish cannot pass by therefore mussel larva cannot attach to fish (Dwarf wedge mussel likes American shad but are lost by peticodiac causeway.) Finally, dams collect pollution which is sucked up by mussels because they are filter feeders
What are pros and cons of zebra mussels?
Cons: They are invasive and destroy ecosystems!
Pros: They filter so much water that lakes are clear enough to see ship wrecks
What are the three types of downstream transport?
Constant, catastrophic and behavioural
