Lecture 12 marine ecology

Question 1

Phytoplankton (5)

Answer 1

*Main primary producer in the ocean
* Unicellular eukaryote
* Photosynthesize
*Found in open water environments
*Polynyas are important as they are one of the first areas to receive sunlight in the spring therefore the first place phytoplankton Blooms

Question 2

Ice algae (3)

Answer 2

Needs ice and light to grow
* As global temperatures increase, ice decreases. It breaks up / melts earlier
* Can lead to less ice algae and less support for the organisms within this food chain

Question 3

Arctic Cod and capelin (4)

Answer 3

*Cod normally live in the sea ice crevices as youth
*With the increase of global temperatures and the decrease of sea ice, Capelin are becoming more abundant in the arctic (especially Hudson’s bay)
*Species that previously relied on arctic cod in their diet have shifted to capelin – more readily available (Belugas and ring seals)
*Arctic Cod and Capelin both have high caloric value but arctic cod has more fat

Question 4

trophic redundancy (2)

Answer 4

*Different organisms play similar roles in the ecosystem / food web. ie If one goes extinct, there is less of an impact on other organisms within the food web.

*arctic cod and capelin

Question 5

Strip Transects (3)

Answer 5

*Set width

*only record individuals within the strip

*assume all animals present in the strip can be detected

Question 6

Line Transects (3)

Answer 6

*No set width
○ Record all observed individuals
○ Probability of detection decreases with distance

Question 7

Plane based surveys (2)

Answer 7

*Constant height
*Often a strip under the plane that cannot be seen

Question 8

Drone Surveys (3)

Answer 8

*Covers a smaller area due to battery life and regulations
○ Good for following behaviors
○ Requires permits

Question 9

Boat Surveys (2)

Answer 9

Observational – Non-invasive
* Written data collection by observer

Question 10

Telemetry Definition

Answer 10

automatic measurement and wireless transmission of data from remote sources.

Question 11

Telemetry Tag types (3)

Answer 11

Tags can be linked to satellites or be archival tags

Embedded tags won’t fall off as easily and typically send information to satellites.

Some suction tags can be reused once retrieved

Question 12

Telemetry data collection (4 things)

Answer 12

*Accelerometer to see changes in speed/acceleration
* Depth Sensor to show dive behaviour
* GPS locations (archival tags) or ARGOS satellite system
* Acoustic monitoring for vocalizations