Lab 5: Selection of Abiotic Environmental Factors in Artemia Franciscana

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

ecology is the study of the interaction of individuals with their environment

Question 2

What are specialists and what are generalists?

Answer 2

specialists are species that are found in very narrow range of conditions only and generalists are species that are found in a broad range of environmental conditions

Question 3

What phylum are brine shrimp from?

Answer 3

arthropoda

Question 4

What are the habitat conditions of brine shrimp (artemia)?

Answer 4

they live in high salinity environments like shallow salt lakes and evaporation ponds.

• they feed off photosynthetic phytoplankton and inhabit well-lit areas, however they are preyed upon in those areas as well so they can be in both sections.
• extreme temperatures can depress respiration and growth
• saline lakes (high pH) are basic but artemia can still somewhat survive variations of pH.

Question 5

What is one of the ways artemia species deals with their extreme environments?

Answer 5

• avoid it by producing resting eggs or cysts
• they usually reproduce asexually in spring and summer but late in the summer when decissication is possible, they reproduce sexually to form cysts that don’t hatch immediately
• these cysts will sit around until conditions are favourable and then hatch
• the resting eggs develop into larvae called nauplii when they are immersed in saltwater.

Question 6

What is habitat selection or habitat preference?

Answer 6

it is the most favourable conditions for survival and/or reproduction in the wild