Features terrestrial and aquatic environments Flashcards
What is viscosity?
The stickiness of the medium through which organisms need to move.
Which environment struggles with viscosity?
Aquatic- Terrestrial environments have advantage over aquatic environments. Easier for animals to move through air than water. Aquatic animals have a streamlined shape to help them move more easily through water.
What is buoyancy?
The measure of a substance’s ability to support or hold up an object.
Which environment struggles with buoyancy/ adaptations?
Terrestrial- Highly specialised adaptation such as wings make use of the little viscosity.
Which environment had better viscosity?
Aquatic- Water has high viscosity compared to air.
Terrestrial- air is less viscous than water.
Which environment has better buoyancy?
Water- provides an upthrust (flotation), providing support for soft body tissues
- Water maintains organisms shape (jellyfish).
- Air: little support. Organisms cannot rely on air for soft tissue support
Which environment has better temperature variation?
Aquatic- Large bodies of water show little temperature variation . Water temperature decreases at increasing depth.
Terrestrial- wide temperature variations in air occur
Air temperature decreases with increases in altitude.
Which environment struggles with temperature variation?
Terrestrial- Temperature in water remains constant.
Camels can thrive in very hot conditions. Spongy bones their noses absorb excess moisture to keep every drop of water in. So the air they breathe out is dry air.
Which environment has better heat conduction?
Terrestial
- Organisms lose more heat in water
- water conducts heat better than air
Which environment struggles with heat conduction?
Mammals that have evolved to live in cold waters, such as whales, seals, sea lions and polar bears, commonly have a layer of blubber.
Cold- blooded marine organisms do not need to stay warm, can let there temperatures drop.
Which environment has more available gases?
Terrestial- organisms need oxygen for respiration and plants need CO2 for photosynthesis. 20% pf air is oxygen.
Which environment struggles with the availability of gas?
Aquatic- Oxygen and CO2 dissolve in water. Where water is in close contact with air, both are available.
Fish have high efficiency gills.
Which environment has more available water?
Aquatic-
In fresh water- water diffuses into organisms
- Cells contain more ions and organic substances
Marine- cells have lower concentration of salts than the surrounding water (net movement out of the cells)
Which environment struggles with the availability of water?
Terrestrial- Water is at a premium- lost by evaporation and must be replaced constantly.
Which environment has better light penetration?
Terrestrial- light is available in abundance. Only scarce on the floors of dense forest and caves.
Which environment struggles with light penetration?
Aquatic- Light is often premium. The surface of water reflects light. On 70% strikes the surface penetrates.
Water absorbs light. Depth increases, light decreases- no light for photosynthesis or vision.
Various photosynthetic pigments to trap available wavelengths of light.
Which environment has more available ions?
Aquatic- Most ions are available in abundance. Just as convention currents carry O2 and CO2 to the ocean depths.
Same currents return ions from decomposed organisms to the surface.
Which environment struggles with lack of ions?
Terrestrial- On land ions (salts) are available in soil water.
- Plants absorb these ions through their roots and animals obtain them when they feed off plants or other animals.
Which environment has more pressure?
Terrestrial- On land, there are frequent fluctuations in pressure. These variations are small and have little direct impact
Which environment struggles with pressure?
Aquatic-
- Pressure does not fluctuate and there is considerable variation.
As water depth increases, pressures increases.
Armour plate like structures on deep sea fish.
