FEEDING AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION IN CORAL REEF FINAL EXAM

Question 1

are decomposers that feed upon the
waste products and dead remains of
other organisms.

Answer 1

DETRITIVORES

Question 2

remove coral skeletons

Answer 2

Bioeroders

Question 3

remove algae and sediments

Answer 3

Scrapers

Question 4

remove macroalgae

Answer 4

Grazers

Question 5

What is the role of detritivores in the ecosystem?

Answer 5

detritivores are commonly eaten by secondary consumers, and so they are an integral component of the ecosystem energy cycle. Not only is the recycling process an important part of decomposition, the removal of dead material is important to stop the spread of disease.

Question 6

What is the function of detritivores in the coral reef?

Answer 6

they break down the dead waste, convert it to energy they can use, and then return important materials back into the environment.

Question 7

what is the function of detritivores?

Answer 7

Detritivores contribute to the breakdown of all of the dead and decaying material in any ecosystem. In this way they play an important role in the cycling of nutrients and are an essential part of most biogeochemical cycles, such as the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle and the phosphorus cycle.

Question 8

What is the role of detritivores in the ecosystem?

Answer 8

detritivores are commonly eaten by secondary consumers, and so they are an integral component of the ecosystem energy cycle. Not only is the recycling process an important part of decomposition, the removal of dead material is important to stop the spread of disease.

Question 9

marine species consume phytoplankton and
various forms of seaweed.

Answer 9

HERBIVORES

Question 10

What is the function of herbivores in the coral reef?

Answer 10

Limit the establishment and growth of algal communities that impede coral recruitment. They help to maintain the balance between corals and macroalgae on reefs.

Question 11

an aquatic organism that feeds on planktonic food, including zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Answer 11

Planktivores

Question 12

What is the function of planktivores in the coral reef?

Answer 12

they also eat plankton to survive, and the energy transfer from the plankton to the reef.

Question 13

What is the function of planktivores?

Answer 13

Planktivorous organisms encompass a range of some of the planet’s
smallest to largest multicellular animals

Question 14

What is the role of planktivores in ecosystem?

Answer 14

Planktivory can be an important mechanism of top-down control that contributes to trophic cascades in aquatic and marine systems. There is a tremendous diversity of feeding strategies and behaviors that planktivores utilize to capture prey.

Question 15

What are the filter feeders?

Answer 15

PUMPING: suck in water via pumping actions
TOWNET: swim rapidly

Question 16

is an animal that feeds on coral

Answer 16

CORALLIVORES

Question 17

What are corallivores important?

Answer 17

because they can influence coral abundance, distribution, and community
structure.

Question 18

What is the function of corallivores in the coral reef?

Answer 18

Predation of coral mucus, tissue, and skeleton by fishes and invertebrates, and a source of chronic stress for many reef-building coral species.

Question 19

feed by removing suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by running the water through a specialized filtering device.

Answer 19

INVERTEBRATE FEEDERS

Question 20

What is the function of invertebrate feeders in the coral reef?

Answer 20

They contributes to enhanced quality and clarity of our near shore waters.

Question 21

What are the roles of invertebrate feeders in ecosystem?

Answer 21

• Preventing algae from overrunning reefs.
• Boring into the skeletons through the process of bioerosion.
• Sessile sponges produce chemical compounds to deter predators.
• Some species of shrimp act as cleaners and remove parasites from reef.

Question 22

A carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish.

Answer 22

PISCIVORES

Question 23

What is the function of piscivores?

Answer 23

Aggressively defending their patch of reef. Greatly affect the abundance of their prey, and often cause density-dependent mortality in those prey, which may regulate local prey populations