Chapter 15: Deep Surface Ecosystems Flashcards
Who can carry nutrients from surface into areas where sunlight can’t reach?
Primary producers
What type of organisms are responsible for primary production of organic compounds?
Chemolithoautotrophs
What type of organism is responsible for primary production in areas without sunlight?
Chemolithoautotrophs
What type of organisms utilize the organics produced by the chemolithoautotrophs?
Respiring microbes
What type of underwater activity releases minerals and gases into the seawater?
Volcanic activity
What do microbes utilize as primary energy and electron sources to drive carbon fixation in hydrothermal vent ecosystems?
Inorganics
What do mats of microbes attract in hydrothermal vent ecosystems?
Crustaceans, then larger invertebrates/vertebrates
What forms between microbes and eukaryal organisms to increase biodiversity in the communities of hydrothermal vent ecosystems?
Symbiotic relationship
What type of productivity happens without light?
Primary Productivity
What is a common energy source in chemolithoautotrophy?
H2S
What type of bacterium is capable of using H2S as an energy source?
S-oxidizing bacterium
Where are hydrothermal vent ecosystems found?
Worldwide
What is the impact of nutrient diversity between hydrothermal vents?
Microbial community diversity
What also exists as well as hydrothermal vents?
Cold seeps
What is produced by cold seeps?
CH4 (methane)
What does the combination of methane from cold seeps and seawater help produce?
Carbonate rock
What type of ecosystems have milder temperatures, neutral pH, and access to sunlight?
Terrestrial Geothermal Ecosystems
Where does primary production come from in terrestrial geothermal ecosystems?
Cyanobacteria
What are primarily found in hotter acidic springs of terrestrial geothermal ecosystems?
Chemolithoautotrophs
What type of microbes are killed by extreme conditions like hotter acidic springs?
Photosynthetic microbes
