BIOL 311 Flashcards
surface of the Earth covered by ocean
71%
average depth of the ocean
3700m
Number of oceans
5
Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern
Abiotic environment
solar radiation temperature salinity density pressure ocean currents
solar radiation lost to upper atmosphere
50%
solar radiation that makes it to the ocean
5% of remaining reflected
50% of remaining IR and UV - heat
50% of remaining visible spectrum
PAR
photosynthetic active radiation
spectral range of solar radiation- 400-700 nm- that photosynthetic organisms are able to use in photosynthesis
UV effect in the ocean
only upper 5-10m
lines of constant T
isotherms
Temperature regulated by
solar energy input
water mixing
temperature gradients
large latitudinal gradient
increasing up to the equator from N and S
maximal seasonal temperature changes
mid-latitudes
Influence of solar radiation on marine life
Photosynthesis E source T changes of the ocean Animal vision Physiological rhythms Depression of biological activity Damage by UV Controls vertical distribution of photosyn. organisms
Effect of solar radiation on physiological rhythms
Migration (e.g. salmon, turtles)
Movement to/from feeding grounds
Adjustment of position in intertidal
How solar radiation affects biological activity
high light deactivates proteins and DNA
Mixed layer
c.a 150m
increased temperature
increased productivity
decreased nutrients
disrupt equilibrium
stressful to system
Influence of temperature on marine life
Controls rate of chemical rxn’s and biological properties
Affects density of seawater
Influences dissolution of gases
Example of biological properties influenced by temperature
metabolism
growth
Important gasses influenced by T
CO2, O2
lower T = more gases
Latitudinal distributions of animals
summer migration b/c isotherms move up
Extremes of temperature regulation
Homeotherms
Poikilotherm
Homeotherm
maintains Tb at a constant level, usually above that of the environment - mammals, birds
Examples of intermediate temperature regulation
strong swimming fish retain heat from muscular action (Tuna)
Intertidal animals lower Tb by evap./circulation of body fluids
Extremes of temperature tolerance
Eurythermic
Stenothermic
Poikilotherm
internal temperature varies considerably- most fish, subtotal inverts.
Can withstand large ranges of temperatures
Eurythermic
salinity of open ocean
33-37
average 35
salinity units
we don't use units to describe salinity anymore (previously ppt) # of g per kg of seawater
salinity is measured in
conductivity
positive linear relationship with salt
Major constituents of seawater
Na, Cl, SO4, Mg, Ca, K
conservative elements
Organisms restricted to narrow temperature range
Stenothermic
e.g. corals
max salinity
mid latitudes
lines of constant salinity
isohalines
controls on salinity
precipitation
evaporation
runoff to a smaller degree
high salinity
evaporation > precipitation
latitude vs salinity graph
low at 60º N/S
high at 30º N/S
low at 0º N/S
very low at 90ºS
low salinity
precipitation > evaporation
near mouths of rivers
glacial melt
Influences of salinity on marine life
Osmosis
Diffusion
density changes (indirect)
affect of salinity on organisms in neritic environment
very affected
e.g. intertidal, tidal pools, enclosed marginal seas
affect of salinity on nekton
in smaller ways
fish drink water to compensate for osmotic loss, excrete salts in urine through gills
extremes of salinity tolerance
Euryhaline
Stenohaline
Euryhaline
adapt to a wide range of salinities
secondary thermocline
may form in the summer due to increased heating, decreased mixing
T-S diagram
Temperature vs. Salinity
curved lines across box = isopycnals(?)
latitude vs evap-precip
same shape as lat. vs. salinity but more extreme lows
low at 60ºN/S = p > e
high at 30ºN/S = e > p
very low at equator = e
density is a measure of
mass per unit volume
density is influenced by
Temperature
Salinity
how salinity affects density
increased salinity = increased density
what defines water masses
temperature
salinity
density
how temperature affects density
increased temperature = decreased density
latitude - density map
highest at high/low lats.
decreased down to equator - U/valley shaped
c.a. opposite of lat.-T map
a function of T and S
deep water formation
Antarctic bottom water
North Atlantic Deep Water
basic vertical structure of the water column
mixed layer
-clines
deep water
depth vs salinity graphs
high lats. = low at surface, increase in halocline, c.a. 35 at depth
low lats. = high at surface, decrease through halocline, c.a. 35 at depth
depth vs T graph
high at surface
decreases through thermocline
near 0 at depth
depth vs pycnocline
low at surface (lightest water mass)
increase through pycnocline
densest at depth (heaviest)
pressure is a measure of
the weight of the overlying water column per unit area at a particular depth
pressure changes with depth
increases nearly linearly
1 atm per 10m depth
pressure units
1 atm = 1 bar = 10 dbar
stenohaline
restricted to very narrow ranges of salinity
Thermohaline basics
circulation of the world oceans
caused by differences in density of water masses
regulates global T’s
Influence of density on marine life
affects floatation/sinking
how to measure depth
pressure
Influence of pressure on marine life
can be exposed to great pressure
biological effects not well understood
deep sea organisms don’t have gas filled organs
pressure faced by deep sea organisms
1000atm
why are pressure affects on deep sea organisms not well known
difficulties associated with collecting deep sea organisms
extremes of pressure tolerance
Eurybathic
Stenobathic
Average depth of the ocean
3700m
average pressure of the ocean
370atm
adapted to a wide range of pressures
Eurybathic - mostly shelf organisms with vertical migrations
creates/maintains surface currents
Earths rotation
Presence of continents
Wind/Weather
example of the affect of continents on ocean surface circulation
around Antarctica - no continents in the way, steady, fast current that is well maintained (Antarctic circumpolar current)
Affects of current on marine life
affect PP - upwelling/downwelling (ex. Peruvian west coast, extremely productive)
Upwelling (and downwelling) is a function of
Corialis force
Eckman transport
BC upwelling zone
not permanent because we are between two surface currents and the boundary moves seasonally
BC surface currents
California current
Alaska current
Ocean divisions based on light
Euphotic c.a. 100m
Disphotic c.a. 100-1000m
Aphotic c.a. max depth
Ocean divisions based on nearness to shore
Neritic - to edge of outer continental shelf
Pelagic - continental slope and beyond
Divisions of the pelagic zone (with depth)
epipelagic - to top of continental slope, c.a. 200m, euphotic in upper half
mesopelagic 200-1000m
bathypelagic 1000-4000
Abyssopelagic 4000- max depth
supralittoral
above high tide line
divisions of the continental shelf
littoral - high tide, low tide
sublittoral - inner, outer shelf
Euphotic zone
layer closer to the surface that receives enough light for photosynthesis to occur
down to 1% light
150-200m in clear water
disphotic zone
also twilight zone
light enough to see but not enough for photosynthesis
subdivisions of the bottom of the ocean
littoral sublittoral bathyal abyssal hadal
sublittoral
region of the ocean bottom between the low tide line and the edge of the continental shelf
euphotic zone in Saanich inlet
20m
what are plankton
floaters that drift with ocean currents
main groups of plankton
bacterioplankton
phytoplankton
zooplankton
plankton are characterized by
size
plankton sizes
Megaplankton (200-2000mm) Macroplankton (20-200mm) Mesoplankton (.2-20mm) Microplankton (.02-.2mm) Nanoplankton (.002-.02mm) Picoplankton (.2-2µm) Femtoplankton (.02-.2µm)
megaplankton
jellies
siphonophore and slap colonies
Macroplankton
krill
gelatinous zooplankton
mesoplankton
adult zooplankton
larval fish
microplankton
diatoms
dinoflagellates
invert. larvae
nanoplankton
cyanophytes
coccolithophores
silicoflagelates
picoplankton
cyanobacteria
femtoplankton
viruses
Nekton
swimmers
movement independent of ocean currents
some capable of long migration
nekton distribution controlled by
salinity temperature density pressure food availability
Nekton examples
adult fish
squid
marine mammals
marine reptiles
majority of oceans plankton are controlled in what size group
nanoplankton
microplankton
Benthic organisms
bottom dwellers
# decrease with depth
biomass decreases with depth
types of benthic organisms
epifauna
infauna
nektobenthos
nektobenthos
on the bottom
capable of swimming over seafloor
zooplankton feeding behaviours
herbivores
carnivores
omnivores
zooplankton size
Less than 1 mm to greater than 1 m
mm - m
zooplankton taxa
protozoans
invertebrates - cnidarians, ctenophores, Chaetognaths, arthropods, annelids, molluscs, echinoderms
vertebrates- urochordates, chordates
zooplankton key roles in marine food webs
primary consumers
primary link in energy transfer between base of food web and higher trophic levels
main grazers of phytoplankton
zooplankton
zooplankton trophic level
can occupy numerous levels
depends on length of food chain
zooplankton are a direct resource for
fish
seabirds
marine mammals
zooplankton that spend whole life cycle in plankton
holoplankton
shorter food chains
more efficient energy transfer
meroplankton
organisms that spend part of life cycle in plankton
many benthic and nektonic species
may be months - days
benefit to having planktonic larvae
provides sessile species means of dispersal
main reason marine populations are open and ‘connected’
squid life cycle
unique planktonic life cycle
adults and larvae are planktonic
only eggs are benthic
planktonic protozoan characteristics
single celled eukaryote usually solitary (some colonial) few µm's - 3mm diverse taxonomically key component of microbial loop
Ecologically important groups of planktonic protozoans
ciliates
foraminiferans
radiolarians
protozoans feed on
heterotrophic
bateria
detritus
small phytoplankton
protozoans important for
microbial loop
prey source for larger zooplankton
ciliates
some of largest free-living protists
up to 2mm long
ciliate structure
cell surface covered with short, dense cilia
cilia function
beat to propel organism through water and/or draw in food particles
eukaryote
contain nuclease and membrane enclosed organelles
foraminifera
CaCO3 test
cold water
radiolaria
SiO2
tropical/subtropical
pseudopodia
pseudopodia function
capture bacteria, phytoplankton, detritus
heterotrophic
cannot fix carbon
utilize organic carbon
radiolarians and foraminifera
more abundant in past
form extensive sediment layers
important to geologists for dating and determining ancient ocean conditions
protozoan groups
ciliates
radiolaria
foraminifera
tintinnid
silica belt
‘belt’ of silicious ooze around Antarctica (radiolarians and diatoms)
silica deposits used for
cleaners, toothpaste, bug repellant, cosmetic
gelatinous zooplankton
‘jellies’
Cnidarians, Ctenophores, primitive chordates
primitive chordates
pelagic tunicates:
Sales, Appendicularians
Cnidarians
‘true jellyfish’
have nematocysts
can inject very potent toxins
nematocyst
specialized cells may be barbed may 'sting' subdue prey capture stick
Ctenophores
'sea gooseberries' comb jellies capture small zooplankton w/ tentacles have colloblasts feed on zooplankton or some on other ctenophores
colloblasts
specialized cells
sticky cells on tentacles
Salps
pelagic tunicate filter feeder form dense patches cylindrical, gelatinous body w/ opening at each end unusual life cycle
salp locomotion/feeding
pump water through body
catch food particles on internal mucus net continuously secreted
Salp food
phytoplankton
bacteria
Salp life cycle
solitary asexual stage - forms budding chain of sexual aggregates - each aggregate produces an embryo - embryos in solitary asexual stage
Appendicularian
a.k.a larvacean primitive chordate, closely related to benthic tunicates, sea squirts resembles small tadpole 2-10mm long gelatinous/mucus house pump water
larvacean house
pump water through
sieves food particles
abandoned when filters clog
abandoned houses part of marine snow
marine snow
vector of transporting particles to deep
food source for other organisms
substrate for bacteria/protozoans
Chaetognaphs
arrow worms
small phylum
Chaetognath feeding
carnivorous raptors
attack plankton several times their size
hang motionless until prey detected
use spines and hooks to grab prey
Planktonic Molluscs
veliger larvae
pteropods
veliger larvae
planktonic larvae of most molluscs
many spend hours-months in plankton
many of the adults are benthic
pteropods
holoplanktonic molluscs
small planktonic snails
temperate/cold waters
foot evolved into paired swimming wings
Pteropod Clades
Thecosomes
Gymnosomes
Thecosomes
thin, coiled, calcareous shell, very light for floating
few mm - 30mm
sticky mucus web for feeding
e.g. Limacina spp.
Gymnosomes
naked (shell-less)
elongate
feed exclusively on thecosomes
e.g. Clione spp.
most diverse group of eukaryotes on Earth
Arthropods
Arthropods are characterized by
segmentation
paired, jointed appendages
hard, external skeleton
most important marine arthropods
crustaceans
Benthic arthropods
crabs, lobsters, etc.
usually have usually have meroplanktonic larvae
crustacean larvae
nauplius
Planktonic arthropods
nauplius larvae
Euphausiids
Amphipods
Copepods
Euphausiids
'krill' among largest zooplankton 1-10cm long shrimp like appearance stalked eyes multi-yr life cycle - up to 5 major food source to fish, whales
Euphausiid feeding
generally omnivorous
filter phyto. and zoop.
commercial krill
Euphausia pacifica
500 tonnes/yr in Strait of Georgia
others spp. 10^5 tonnes/yr in Antarctic
Krill migration
diel vertical migration
each night go up in water column to feed (dawn ascent), come back down in day (dawn descent)
visualizing diel vertical migrations
acoustic backscatter (can be seen by VENIS mooring)
UTC
coordinated universal time
BC time
Pacific Time Zone
UTC -08:00
Amphipods
laterally compressed c/w krill
almost exclusively carnivorous
direct development (no nauplius)
often live commensally w/ jellies
Most abundant zooplankton by far
copepod
usually >80%
Copepoda
c.a. 2000 spp. main phyto. grazers vertical migration 100s of µm - 10mm major prey of young fish key link to higher trophic levels
Copepod feeding
often consume >1/2 body weight in phyto./ day
some are carnivorous or omnivorous
Autotroph
producer
produce complex organic compounds
plankton sampling net
SCOR net
60cm diameter
250µm mesh
how to tell how much water has gone through plankton sampling net
flow meter
4 dials that turn opposite direction sequentially
write down #’s to start and at end
what we do with samples once retrieved
use splitter to split in half
freeze half for biomass measurement
preserve half in formalin for ID
how plankton sampling net works
tow up from bottom
send messenger down to hit release mechanism
hard holding top of net is let go
net is folded over
copepod morphology
straight body, antennae as long as body, 5 pairs swim legs, 1-5mm long, 3 body sections, no eyes
copepod body sections
prosome - ‘head’ + first body segment
metasome- posterior 1/2 of body
urosome - narrow posterior, looks like tail
copepod cephalasome
prosome + metasome
most common type of planktonic copepods
calanoid copepods
copepod taxonomy
Phylum Crustacea Subclass Copepoda
amphipod morphology
half-moon shaped, shorter antennae, 7 prs. walking legs, 2-50mm, laterally compressed, humpbacked, unstalked black eyes
amphipod body segments
head/thorax- head, antennae, body, walking legs
abdomen- posterior section of body, pleopods, uropods
determine plankton abundance
take pipette sample - count - extrapolate to size of sample - x2 (b/c half is frozen) - / volume of water filtered by net
how to find out volume of water filtered by net
flow meter or
V = pie * r^2 * h
x by efficiency
Euphausiid taxonomy
Phylum Curstacea
Order Euphausiacea
Euphausiid morphological characteristics
krill, curved body shrimp-like body prominent, stalked eyes 2 main body sections not laterally compressed usually largest crustacean zoop., 10-60mm 5 pairs of swimming legs
Euphausiid behaviour characteristics
form huge swarms
strong vertical migrators
Euphausiid body segments
anterior fused carapace
posterior segmented abdomen
Pteropod taxonomy
Phylum Mollusca
Order Pteropoda
Pteropods
sea butterflies
pelagic swimming gastropods
wing-like structures adapted from molluscan foot
shelled or shell-less
local pteropod genus
Limacina
most common shell-less pteropod genus
Clione
local Clione species feeds exclusively on Limacina
common local Euphausiids
Euphausia pacifica
Thysanoessa spinifera
Larvacean taxonomy
Phylum Chordata
Class Larvacea
Larvacean characteristics
not invertebrates
head, long tail, notochord
5-25mm
mucus house
Phylum Chaetognatha characteristics
arrow worms elongate arrow-shape 3 paired fins 1-10cm c.a. 60spp. do not have clearly differentiated head eyespots grasping spines on head
common local Chaetognath
Sagitta
Chaetognath feeding
exclusively carnivorous
prey on other zoop. and larval
Ostracod
segmented crustacean w/ head, thorax, abdomen all enclosed in hinged carapace which is held shut by strong muscles
most species
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
PDT +7 hours
7 hours ahead of BC
why would organisms want to undergo diel vertical migration
avoid predation expenditure of energy (cooler waters at bottom during day)
phytoplankton size
<2µm - 2mm
most <100 µm
chains = several mm
phytoplankton coverings
SiO2
CaCO3
cellulose
ornamented
phytoplankton are
unicellular microscopic algae mostly individual (some chains) floaters (or weak swimmers)
Phytoplankton role in marine ecosystem
primary producer - photoautotroph
link abiotic and biotic environments
produce organic material
Phytoplankton photosynthetic pigments
chlorophyll a
accessory pigments
Photosynthesis
H2O + CO2 + E – CH2O + O2
Ecologically important phytoplankton groups
cyanobacteria (prokaryote)
Diatoms (eukaryote)
Coccolithophore (e)
Dinoflagellates (e)
why do diel migrations not go all the way to the bottom in Saanich Inlet?
anoxic layer!
depth of diel migration is probably the o-a boundary
Diel
a 24 hour cycle
Best time to sample for phytoplankton based on acoustic backscatter?
Dawn - zooplankton have undergone vertical migration (down) and will not be grazing/in the way
First photosynthetic organisms
cyanobacteria
c.a. 3.5bya
free oxygen in atmosphere
c.a. 2 bya
possible origin of photosynthetic organisms
purple sulfur bacteria
reduce C to carbs
photosyn. but no O2 release
use H2S not H2O
Prokaryotic phytoplankton
Cyanobacteria
2 groups of cyanobacteria
Coccoid cyanobacteria (Synechococcus) Prochlorophythes (Prochlorococcus)
why are we only concerned with 2 groups of cyanobacteria
they are ubiquitous and represent a large fraction of phytoplankton biomass and productivity in the oceans
discovery of Synechococcus
1980’s by its intense orange phycoerythrin fluorescence
largest group of zooplankton
copepods, by far
smallest known photoautotroph
Prochlorococcus (prochlorophythes)
single cell
thrives in oligotrophic regions
Prochlorococcus discovery
late 1980s
dim red fluorescence detected
Synechococcus
solitary cells or clusters/pairs
accidental discovery
other cyanobacteria group
Trichodesmium
diazotroph
bacteria/archaea that fix atmos. N gas into a more usable form such as ammonia
-water must be calm, warm