Marine Food Webs Flashcards

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1
Q

Primary producers

A

1st, autotroph

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2
Q

Primary consumers

A

2nd, heterotroph

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3
Q

Secondary consumer

A

3rd, heterotroph

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4
Q

Tertiary consumer

A

4th, top predator

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5
Q

Why only 4-5 levels in marine systems?

A

Eating is inefficient
Long food chains are unstable
Predator design is limited
Omnivory

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6
Q

Importance of body size

A

Generally a good predictor of trophic level because Energetic demand of consumers increases with size, and marine primary consumers are very small and numerous
BUT
Some apes predators begin life as eggs/larvae and increase in size

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7
Q

Why do marine systems generally have more complex food webs

A

Low levels of specialism.
Openness of marine systems.
Large size changes along a life history.
Long lifespans - ontogenetic shifts (change diet or habitat).

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8
Q

ADV of Bottom up food web regulation

A

Resource availability drives food web stabiity
Eg more phytoplankton= more copepods, sandeels, seabird breading success

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9
Q

ADV of top down control (food web regulation)

A

Driven by pred prey interactions
Important for ecosystem structure and function
Observation from human exploit show how precarious food webs are

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10
Q

What is Trophic cascade

A

Ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving recipricol changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food change. Often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling

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11
Q

What is Mesopredator release

A

Phenomenon in which populations of medium sized predators rapidly increase after the removal of predators.
Changes in apex predator abundance can have disproportionate effects.

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