exam Flashcards
what is actualism
idea that the laws of nature now also applied in the past
What is different about the Carboniferous Trophic Structure
detritivores
occupy the level of
primary consumers
What is Autoecology
studying the ecology of the individual
organism
What is Synecology
studying the interactions between organisms
and their environment
What is an Ecotone
The unique environments that are formed in the transitional
areas between habitats
Is diversity diversity high or low in ecotones
low
What are Marsh foraminifera and why are they important
highly zoned in salt marsh
Salt marshso can reconstruct paleosea level
how deep is the photic zone
~200m but most photosynthesis in top 100m
what is Epifaunal
living on the substrate
What in infaunal
Living in the substrate
what is vagile
capable of locomotion
what is Tiering
verticl ecological structure
what is biocoenosis
the organisms truly lived
together and interacted while alive
what is thanatocoenosis
organisms found together after death and decay
what is taphocoenosis
fossils preserved together in a single horizon/locality
what is the fidelity of an assemblage
How well the death or fossil assemblage matches the
living assemblage
what were the major morphological changes from the Edicarian to the Ordivician
1.Ediacaran Fauna
2. Small Shelly Fauna
3. Cambrian Explosion
4. Great Ordovician biodiversification
5. Nekton Revolution
what is the Ediacaran Biota
The oldest assemblage of large
complex organisms
* Soft body, high surface to
volume ratios, radial or
bilateral symmetry
what was the Ediacaran Ecology
No infaunal, or pelagic -
Life restricted to the seabed
* Few predators, or
scavengers - food chains
were short, dominated by
suspension and deposit
feeders
* There was tiering of the
benthos (evolution of stalks)
what were the Small Shelly Fauna
first evidence of hard skeletonization
* Some thought to be worms, or worm-like
* Some evidence of predation, or scavenging
* likely mobile, and sessile forms
what happened in the Cambrian explosion
- Rapid appearance of new body plans
- Diversification of Bilateria
- increased tiering
- Increase predation, driven by sight
- Increased biomineralization, nutrient availability and
defense
what happened in the Great Ordovician Biodiversification
- No new phyla (except Bryzoa)
extensive radiation, many crown
groups emerge - Evolution of the plankton –
diversification of acritarchs,
development of feeding larvae - Diversification of predators
led to “evolutionary arms race” and increasingly complex food webs
what happened in the Nekton Revolution
evolution of nektonic forms
Primarily cephalopods and fish
Devonian
what is Liebig’s ‘Law of the Minimum’
growth of a plant is dependent on the amount of food stuff which is presented to it in minimum quantity
what is the Law of Limiting Factors
Biological or ecological processes that depend on multiple factors are limited by the slowest factor
what is the Law of Tolerance
An organism success or survival is dependent on a complex set of conditions with maximum, minimums and optimal ranges of environmental factors
Key limiting factors in marine settings are
- Light
- Oxygen levels
- Temperature
- Salinity
- Depth
- Substrate
what is the Carbonate Compensation Depth
Limit on the distribution of organisms with carbonate skeletons (Calcite 4-5km, Aragonite 1-2km)
when did porifer Diverged from other metazoans
700-800mya
What is the most basal metazoan
Porifera - lack differentiated tissues, cellular organization
What are the two major groups of sponges/prorifera
Demospongea (common) Hexactinellida (glass sponges)
what is the body of a sponge made of
spongin
what is the Skeletal structure made of a sponge made of
spicules
calcite or silica
how do sponges feed
- Pump water through their ostia
- Water moved by choanocytes
- Food digested by amoeboid cells
- Water is expelled from spongocel through the osculum
how do sponges reporduce
sexually: spawning
asexually: budding
what is the distribution of sponges
global, feshwater and marine
antartica, abyssal plane
sponge ecology
some can crawl
some carnivores
some trace fossils (clionia)
what is the oldest fossil sponge
~890mya
what do sponges appear in the fossil record
cambrain explosion
what is a Stromatoporoid
extinct type of porifora
Mound or sheet shape with calcareous skeletons
what was the Stromatoporoid Ecology
- shallow marine, carbonate rocks
- components of reef systems in the early Phanerozoic
- Grew together in bioherms, or biostromes
- Often “hosted” epibiont species
what was Stromatoporoid Morphology
- Densely layered calcite skeletons, most with no spicules
- Different morphologies reflected the environment: laminar, domical, bulbous
Upper surface of many have small bumps called mamelons - Branching “canals” leading to radiating cracks on the upper
surface called astrorhizae – likely for expelling water
“cross hatched” pattern of horizontal laminae, and vertical pillars, squares in between called
galleries
when did stromatoporids appear
cambrian
when did stromatoporids go extinct
devonian
what are Archeocyathids
extinct group of cup-shaped organisms thought to be poriferans
what was the Archaeocyathid Morphology
Cup-shaped, porous walls, no
spicules
* Outer wall, and inner wall, interior space called the intervallum
* Vertical septa that partition the
intervallum
* Holdfast which anchors to the
sediment
what was the Archaeocyathid Ecology
Shallow water, marine, tropical
* Filter feed like sponges
* Likely lived at depths of 20-30m
* Formed the first reefs
when did Archaeocyathid appear
early cambrain
when did Archaeocyathid disappear
late cambrian
what is the least complex metazoan
cnidarian
which phyla is radially symmetrical
cnidarian
What are the major groups of Cnidarian?
- Hydrozoa (Jelly Fish, Fire Corals)
- Scyphozoans (moon
jellies, compass jellies) - Anthozoa (sea anemones, sea fans, sea pens, corals)
what are Common Cnidarian Traits
- Carnivorous
- Stinging cells (cnidoblasts)
- Live as polyps (sessile or
attached) or medusae (free
swimming) - Often exist as both during their
life cycle
what is the general cnidarian body play
hydra
what is the enteron
the cnidarian single opening, mouth, anus, reproduction
what is the name of the tentacles with stinging cells surrounding mouth of cnidarian
nematocysts in
cnidoblasts
describe the cnidarian body
Body made of two “walls” endoderm and ectoderm, with
gelatinous substance in between called the mesoglea
* Endoderm folds inward, and septa are secreted
what kind of reporduction do corals have
sexual, asexual budding, fragmentation
when are the earliest cnidarians
cambrian, possible edicarian
what are the Important coral groups
- Rugosa (extinct)
- Tabulata (extinct)
- Scleractinia(extant)
which extinct coral was horn shaped
rugosa
what is the arrangment of rugosa coral septa
six primary and six secondary
arranged in four quadrants
are rugosa solitary or colonial
both
when did rugosa and tabula corals live
ordivican to permian
are tabulata coral solitary or colonial
colonial
describe the sept of tabulata coral
reduced, prominant tabluae
are Scleractinia solitary or colonial
both
describe the septa of Scleractinia corals
prominent, divisible by 6
when did Scleractinia evolve
triassic (to present)
what are Hermatypic corals
have symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae
where do Ahermatypic corals live
cold water, slow growth
what is the distribution of corals
tropical shallow marine
what is the most productive marine ecosystem
reef
what are the three types of modern reefs by growth
Keep-Up
Catch-Up
Give-Up
what are the main zones in a reef system
lagoon, back reef, reef crest, fore reef