Invertebrate Diversity

Question 1

figures for diversity?

Answer 1

8.7 million species
more than 85% belong to animal kingdom
1.3 million invertebrates making up 95% animal kingdom dominating every global ecosystem in terms of species richness biomass and ecological function
7 times more species of beetles than all vertebrates

Question 2

explain how size of invertebrates is beneficial?

Answer 2

can colonise microniches

Question 3

what is phoresy and how does it benefit invertebrates?

Answer 3

the symbiotic relationship in which one organism travels on the body of the other
- eg ant and beetle - the ant is the niche for the beetle

Question 4

what is a phoretic?

Answer 4

the organism that travels on the back of the host e.g army ant

Question 5

what is an ectoparasite?

Answer 5

parasite that lives outside its host - can have a negative effect e.g mites

Question 6

what is antiquity?

Answer 6

the oldest group - more time to colonise and experience 
- oldest living vertebrate - clam
slow growing 
live almost forever
siphon to filtrate water

Question 7

why is reproduction beneficial and methods of reproduction?

Answer 7

allows the continuity of a species
asexual - subdivision, fission, fragmentation, budding - parthenogenic (don’t need to be fertilized)
sexual

Question 8

methods of sexual reproduction?

Answer 8

gonochorism - sexes always separate
hermaphroditic - male and female during lifetime
simultaneous hermaphroditism - male and female at same time

Question 9

what are protogynous and protandrous types of reproduction?

Answer 9

protogynous - born female and change to male (ftm)

protandrous - born male and change to female (mtf)

Question 10

what is metamorphosis?

Answer 10

allows colonisation of a different habitat, allowing the organism to endure harsh environmental conditions

Question 11

what is dispersal?

Answer 11

a method for the organism to colonise a new environment, expand population and increase home range
active - organism can move by itself - spiders
passive - organism cant move so needs help of external vector e.g sponge

Question 12

example of active diffusion?

Answer 12

box jellyfish

medusa releases gametes and they can swim to find a surface to attach to then become a polyp

Question 13

example of passive diffusion?

Answer 13

corals

release eggs/sperm into water - once a year!

Question 14

what are ecosystem services?

Answer 14

function played by an organism that can be quantified and adds value to humans

Question 15

what are shakers and movers?

Answer 15

the organisms that keep the cycle going
misconception that its vertebrates
extensive pasture depends on natural fertilisers - accumulation of dung can cause problems - space, disease, pests - dung beetles are necessary
- food provision - process dung and release it back into the soil

Question 16

how are invertebrates helpful?

Answer 16

shakers and movers

mini predators and decomposers

Question 17

how are invertebrates mini predators and decomposers?

Answer 17

leaf cutter ants - remove 50kg vegetation a day
symbiotic relationship with fungi
soil aerators and creators
35% of worlds food crops - pollinators

Question 18

how are coral reefs beneficial?

Answer 18

rainforests of the sea

coastal protection, food provision, tourism

Question 19

why are invertebrates so important?

Answer 19

pollination - need wild pollinators, ladybird pollinates most crops

medical research/innovation

Question 20

example of invertabrate helpfulness in medicine?

Answer 20

jellyfish - immortal and used in degenerative studies
able to revert to immaturity so never dies
tissue regeneration

Question 21

possible reasons for invertebrates being overlooked?

Answer 21

cryptic habitat, active at night, small

Question 22

what is vertebrate bias?

Answer 22

they take up most of the red list - funding

take up 67% invertebrates only take up 2%

Question 23

how do we sample invertebrates?

Answer 23

come up with question, sample design, data analysis, communicating results
sampling data - extraction, fixation
various tools - van veen grab sampler, beating tray, core manual handler

Question 24

how do we extract invertebrates?

Answer 24

osmotic shock
anaesthetic
uhligs seawater ice technique

Question 25

how does osmotic shock work?

Answer 25

sample submerged in fresh water for few seconds
causing organisms to release so that they can be shaken free from the substrate
then filtered out through 45 micrometer mesh and returned to fresh filter seawater

Question 26

how does anaesthetic work?

Answer 26

sample narcotised by an immersion in a MgCl solution and leave for 15 mins
meiofauna shaken free of substrate and filtered through 45 micrometer mesh and returned to fresh water

Question 27

what is uhligs seawater ice technique?

Answer 27

irrigating the sample with an ice cold seawater
cold water forces organisms out of the sediment
most effective with samples from temperate and tropical regions

Question 28

how do we fix organisms?

Answer 28

coagulate and stabilise the proteins so that they don’t distort or deteriorate during preservations, study and storage
70% ethanol - most sclerotised invertebrates
paraformaldehyde - most soft bodied invertebrates

Question 29

how do invertebrates impact global change?

Answer 29

sentinel species - largest total biomass
domino effect throughout food web
heating oceans - less ice coverage by 30-35%, 83% overall krill habitat decline due to ice and summer chlorophyll
70-80& decline

jellyfish bloom - huge problems
human impact - northern ireland a massive stinger killed 100000 salmon in only salmon farm
japan 2009 a ten tonne trawler capsized when they tried to pull up a net of normura jellies which weigh 440 pounds each