Marine ecology

Question 1

what is ecology

Answer 1

a branch of biology which studies the relationship between living organisms and their environment

Question 2

what do abiotic or biotic factors influence

Answer 2

how organisms grow
abundance
distribution
fecundity

Question 3

give some examples of abiotic factors

Answer 3

temperature
salinity
wave action
water pressure

Question 4

give some examples of biotic factors

Answer 4

predation
mutualism
competition

Question 5

define community

Answer 5

all populations of organisms in a defined area

Question 6

define habitat

Answer 6

the physical place where an organism lives

Question 7

define niche

Answer 7

the resources that an organism uses to grow, survive and reproduce

Question 8

define ecosystem

Answer 8

a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment

Question 9

what resources limit population size

Answer 9

nutrients
space
light
oxygen
carbon dioxide

Question 10

what is exponential growth

Answer 10

when each individual has more than one offspring and the total number increases with every generation

Question 11

what is carrying capacity

Answer 11

the point where the resources limit the abundance of organisms in a given area aka K

Question 12

what is an r select species

Answer 12

produce a large number of offspring
little parental care
low juvenile surviorship
early sexual maturity
shorter life expectancy
small

Question 13

what is a K select species

Answer 13

small number of offspring
large parental involvement
long lived
large

Question 14

when does competition occur

Answer 14

when organisms require the same resources that is limited in space and time

Question 15

what is the difference between intra and interspecific competition

Answer 15

intra= competition between individuals of the same species

inter= competition between individuals of different species

Question 16

what is the difference between a fundamental niche and a realised niche

Answer 16

fundamental= where an individual could live in the absence of competition or predation

realised= where an individual actually lives in the presence of competition and predation

Question 17

list some different predation avoidance techniques seen by prey species in the ocean

Answer 17

schooling
camouflage
armour
mimicry
mutualism

Question 18

what is symbiosis

Answer 18

when one species has a close and long term biological interaction with a second species

Question 19

what are the two different types of symbiosis

Answer 19

facultative= when it is convenient but not essential
obligate= when the interaction is essential for survival

Question 20

what is mutualism

Answer 20

when both species benefit

Question 21

what is commensalism

Answer 21

when one species benefits with no harm to the other

Question 22

what is parasitism

Answer 22

when one species benefits at the cost to the other

Question 23

what are benthic organisms/benthos

Answer 23

organisms which live on the bottom or buried and are often sessile and attached to one place

Question 24

what are pelagic organisms

Answer 24

organisms which live in the water column

Question 25

what are planktonic organisms

Answer 25

organisms which drift at the mercy of currents

Question 26

what are nekton organisms

Answer 26

organisms which can swim against the current and can be benthic

Question 27

outline characteristics of the plelagic subdivisions

Answer 27

split int the neritic zone above the continental shelf and the ocean zone which is the deep sea
the ocean zone is made up of the epipelagic (photic zone) and the mesopelagic (has light but not enough for photosynthesis)