Marine Animal Adaptations Flashcards
What principles is evolution by natural selection based on?
-Individuals that form a population of a species are not identical
-Some variation between individuals is inherited
-All populations could grow to a size that overwhelms the environment- but most individuals die before reproduction
-Different ancestors leave different numbers of descendants and do not all contribute equally to subsequent generations
(Townsend et al. 2008)
What is the definition for an adaptation?
A trait that increases an individual’s reproductive success in a particular environment in comparison to individuals without that trait (Singer 2016)
What is variations in species?
Variations in characteristics that can help or hurt an animal’s chance to survive
How can variation affect an animal?
-Animals can adapt better to a new environment
-Allows an animal to blend into the environment
-Provides greater opportunity for an animal to reproduce
Why must autotrophic organisms act a certain way in the photic zone?
-They must stay in the photic zone but cannot be too close to surface (photoinhibition)
-What depth that they can must effectively utilize available light
What is compensation depth?
The depth at which primary production equals respiration
What ways have diatoms adapted to floating in the water column?
-Aeration
-Turbulent mixing
-Viscosity
Describe aeration
Gases becomes trapped in silicate tests
Describe turbulent mixing
Transports phytoplankton within surface waters
Describe viscosity
Buoyancy increases in denser media
What are accessory pigments?
Accessory pigments are light-absorbing compounds, found in photosynthetic organisms (work with chlorophyll a)
What has pigmentation in macroalgae adapted to do?
They have adapted to the photosynthetic opportunities underwater
What are the two wavelengths of light that chlorophyll a absorb the most?
400-500 nm and 650 - 700 nm
What wavelengths of light does chlorophyll b absorb the most?
400 - 500nm
What wavelength range do caroteniods absorb?
400 - 500 nm
What wavelengths does phycoerythrin absorb?
400 - 600 nm
What wavelengths does phycocyanin absorb?
Highest absorbance at 600 nm
What is green algae’s accessory pigment?
Chlorophyll b
What is charophytes accessory pigment?
Chlorophyll b
What is euglenoids accessory pigment?
Chlorophyll b
What is brown algae’s accessory pigments?
Chlorophyll c1 + c2, Fucoxanthin
What are the accessory pigments for yellow-brown or golden-brown algae?
Chlorophyll c1 + c2, fucoxanthin
What are the accessory pigments for dinoflagellates?
Chlorophyll c2, Peridinin
What are the accessory pigments for cryptomonads?
Chlorophyll c2, physcobilins
