BIOL 311 PARTII Flashcards
wavelength to measure silicic acid
410nm by visible spectrophotometry
silicic acid
Si(OH)4
most common way to determine amount of phytoplankton in seawater
Chlorophyll (mostly Chl a)
[Chl]
index of phytoplankton biomass
intensity of fluorescence is proportional to amount of Chl and thus biomass
most common way to measure Chl
use acetone to extract Chl from filtered sample, measure fluorescent using fluoromoeter
fluorescence
photosynthetic pigments absorb light at one wavelength and emit light at another
breakdown products of chl produced by zooplankton digestion
phaeopigments
nitrate
NO3 -
Secondary production
amount of new zooplankton tissue elaborated per unit time
zooplankton are
secondary producers
key link between PP and higher trophic levels
key zooplankton species
copepods
PP regulated by
availability of light and nutrients
principle photosynthetic pigment in all phytoplankton
Chlorophyll (mostly Chl a)
Secondary production regulated by
food availability
temperature
predation
food chain in upwelling systems
pretty simple chain
phyto.–zoo–higher trophic levels
NO2-
nitrite
food chain in open ocean
more complex web
‘secondary production’ somewhat ambiguous
estimating SP
TTE
Measuring (3 methods)
TTE
Trophic Transfer Efficiency
TTE (Et) = Pt / Pt-1
TTE = amount of E; annual production at t / annual E in lower trophic level
TTE assumptions
TTE of 10% is always a good estimate
We can account for biomass of all un-fished species in food web
IS TTE reliable
TTE often 15-20% at lower levels, using 10% not always adequate, would lead to underestimates, better to measure SP directly
Why is it easy to measure PP
can measure various ways: O2 production, CO2 uptake, nutrient uptake, colour w/ satellites
Rapid generation time: can estimate PP w/i few hours
why is it not easy to measure SP
Much slower growth (weeks-months)
Have to focus on one species at a time
Methods for measuring SP
physiologic method
cohort analysis
chitobiase method
The physiologic method
only certain amount of phyto. E is transferred to zoop.; calculate all inputs and outputs; requires a lot of information
Inputs/outputs in SP
Input: phytoplankton
Outputs: respiration, excretion, defecation, death, melting, consumption by predators
Cohort analysis
follow zoopl. cohort through t; must know length of life stage and weight, very difficult at sea
Copepod life cycle
12 stages: adult, nauplii (6?), C1-C5 copepodites
seasonal vertical migration
rise to surface as nauplii early spring
SP cohort analysis, abundance vs time
Abundance (m^-2) vs Time (days)
abundance increase and decrease for each life stage, curves progress with time for successive life stages
Cohort analysis, 2ºP =
Σ G_i B_i
weight-specific growth rate of stage i * biomass of stage i
Biomass =
B = X* w X = # individuals w = weight of individual
Production =
P_t = [(X1-X2) * (w1+w2)/2] + (B2-B1) x = # individuals w = average weight B = biomass
Cohort analysis assumptions
populations are synchronous
sampling animals each day
not very accurate, makes difficult to use correctly
Landry, 1978
one of few proper cohort analyses
found production rate for single copepod species, single season, in a single lagoon
not comparable to high resolution of PP studies
synchronous populations
developing through life stages at the same time
Mesocosm
encircle large V of water + plankton
typically 2-5m wide, 3-10m deep
popularized in oceanography by Tim Parsons
Artificial cohort method
popular field method
incubate specific stages/size classes for short periods
problems with artificial cohort method
repeated handling (damaging)
container effects (food, T)
assumes asynchrony
time consuming, laborious (have to sieve samples and separate stages)
Chitobiase method
Biochemical method for rapid estimation
measure chitobiase in water sample
fast and relatively simple
what is chitobiase
crustacean moulting enzyme that recycles chitin during moulting of an individual
amount of chitobiase is proportional to body size
Chitobiase method assumptions
decay rate proportional to production
what does chitobioase method tell
estimate of average development rate of crustacean zooplankton community
what is needed for chitobiase method
rate of decay of chitobiase from seawater sample
Chitobiase method benefits
Fast, relatively simple, versatile, high resolution over short time
Zooplankton food
phytoplankton
protozoans
other zooplankton
zooplankton food use
growth
reproduction
routine metabolism and respiration
how much food do zooplankton need
smaller zoop have higher weight-specific food requirements
smaller, higher T = higher metabolic rates
food required (zooplankton)
inversely proportional to size
How much phytoplankton do zoop consume
ca. 10-40%
occasionally nearly 100% of daily PP
Zoop. food limitations
in lab higher nutrition levels required than are found in ocean, at low [food] there were lower body weights
Zoop in ocean not starving, reproduction not limited, food availability doesn’t seem limiting
Field measurement of zoop reproductive output
usually show little-no relationship w/ food concentration
What does Zoop growth rate depend on
*Temperature
body size/metabolism
resources
max zoop growth
only occurs above threshold food concentration
highest for youngest stages
zoop growth open ocean vs coastal
food-limited growth at [food] found in oceanic areas regardless of T
habitat T vs food concentration
Cm, Cc increase w/ decreasing T
oceanic organisms fall mostly below Cc, some above at very low T
Coastal zoop almost entirely above Cc
Cm
matintenance food concentration
assimilation balances respiration
below equals starvation (not enough food to meet metabolic needs)
Cc
critical concentration
above which growth rate is max
Habitat T vs Food concentration, Juvenile, Adult
Cm, Cc increase more at low T for adults, i.e. adults have more challenges reaching max growth at low T
Food limitation conclusions
food limited growth most likely in oceanic conditions and large zoop
why do only lab studies find food availability matters for zoop growth
either erroneous results or underestimate real food availability
Huntley-Lopez Model (1992)
re-analyze published data, find T alone explains >90% of growth rate variation
suggest that SP can be estimated as fn of T
Huntley-Lopez model, SP =
B * 0.445 *e^0.111T
T = temperature
B = biomass
SP in g C m^-3 day^-1
criticism of Huntley-Lopez model
relies mostly on lab data collected under unrealistic condition
doesn’t align with what is seen in field
food quality and zoop
bioindicators (e.g. fatty acids) have been shown to affect reproductive success and growth rate
Annual changes in temperate oceans
angle of sun insolation stratification nutrients compensation depth
summer in temperature oceans
sun shines straight -highest concentration of energy- high heating of water- stratification- high PP - nutrient decline- deep compensation depth
PP, SP patterns in temperature oceans
PP, SP high (peak) in spring, decrease in summer due to low nutrients, secondary bloom in fall due to upwelling (wind mixing, tides, etc), may be mini blooms throughout
why does PP decrease after bloom
decreased nutrients
increase in SP - grazing
overall temperature ocean productive pattern
strong seasonality
large export flux
polar ocean productivity patterns
only 1 bloom, in summer, phyto/zoo/ nutr curves all pretty tightly coupled, strong seasonality
tropical ocean productivity patterns
strong, permanent thermocline, barrier to mixing, low nut, low productivity year round, no blooms, very low increases/decreases (small blooms from small scale mixing), no seasonality, very little export flux
tropical ocean productivity relies on
remineralization - regenerated system
regenerated nutrients
ammonium, urea
exceptions to low productivity tropics
coral reefs
equatorial and coastal upwelling zones
temperate ocean productivity limitations
winter - light
spring/summer - nutrients
polar region limits to productivity
summer - nutrients
all other times - light
tropical region limit to productivity
all seasons - nutrients
main grazers of ‘large’ phytoplankton cells
copepods
why are phytoplankton blooms possible if they are grazed
zoo grow slower
average productivity of upwelling zone
500 gC/m2/yr
what areas of the ocean are most productive?
depends - per m2 = coastal, but coastal zones are small… overall = open ocean (pay attention to units)
front
relatively narrow region characterized by large horizontal gradient in variables (e.g. T, S, D); sharp changes
example of a frontal system in the ocean
edge of the continental shelf – increased productivity parallel to shore
between islands - different depths, flow lines changed
Island effects
vertices formed downstream of a current moving past an island, disrupt nutrient patterns
tidal effects
moving through narrow pass (e.g. estuary) causes eddies to form - disrupt water/nutreint patterns
average productivity of open ocean
125 gC/m2/yr
Large-Scab patchiness caused by
coast, river-plumes, fronts, island effects, divergence/convergence, gyres
In NH net water movement is
to the right
Continental divergence
water moving away from shore, deep water rises to replace = upwelling; always on W side of continent because waters are moving away (NH and SH)
Planetary fronts
span entire ocean basins
average productivity of continental shelf
360gC/m2/yr
example of planetary front
Antarctica circumpolar current
Between subtropic and subpolar gyres
anticyclonic gyre
clockwise circulation in NH (counter clockwise in SH)
water moves ‘in’ (to the right)
downwelling
warm water
average productivity of coral reef
2000gC/m2/yr
continental divergence =
high productivity
continental convergence
waters ‘pile up’, downwelling, poor productivity, generally E side of continents
gyre right hand rule
clockwise gyre - wrap fingers clockwise - thumb points away - water moves down
effects of anticyclonic gyre
downwelling - warm water– low productivity
warm core ring
anticyclonic gyre
where reefs are generally found
continental convergent areas
cyclonic gyre
anticlockwise circulation in NH (clockwise in SH)
water moves up/out (to the right)
upwelling, divergent, cold (NH and SH)
cold core ring
cyclonic gyre
Small-scale patchiness
Langmuir circulation
Deep scattering layer
Langmuir circulation
‘streaks’ formed between langmuir cells; from moderate, persistent wind producing convection cells in topmost layer of water w/ long axes
Deep scattering layer
result of diel vertical migration
CO2 over the last 20,000 yrs
slow, steady increase up to 1800s then major increase
effects of cyclonic gyre
upwelling - cold water - high productivity
CO2 in 1750
277ppm
CO2 in 2016
405ppm
46% increase since 1750
first daily measurements of CO2 over 400
May 2013
where are CO2 measurements made
Mauna Loa
Fossil emissions graph
CO2 emissions per year = steady incline from 1990-now
current CO2 emissions
9.9Gt C/yr
contributors to CO2 emissions
Highest to lowest: Coal, oil, gas, cement
all have increased
year-to-date globally averaged land surface T
1.48ºC above 20th century average
year-to-date globally averaged sea surface T
0.77ºC above 20th century average
RCP
Representative concentration pathways