Midterm Qs Flashcards
A group of populations of different species within a given area
A community
A fish that changes sexes in response to environmental conditions
Hermaphrodism
Responsible for 20% of atmospheric oxygen
Diatoms
The character and structure of a stream is defined by
water or current velocity
Low primary production occurs in tropical waters due to
Permanent thermal stratification
Quaternary consumers are often lower in abundance because
Their trophic level retains less energy
What type of service is primary production
Supporting service
An example of a regulating service is
Carbon storage
What type of service is water purification
Regulating service
What are examples of supporting services
photosynthesis, water cycle, nutrient cycling by decomposers, etc.
What taxa makes up the bulk of vertebrate biodiversity in freshwater systems?
Ray-finned fish (lobe-finned fish are mostly extinct, except the coelacanths)
Reversible phenotypic changes that correspond to environmental changes are considered
Acclimations
What are examples of coastal ecosystems
Coral reefs, estuaries, salt marshes
What is viviparity in sharks?
They give birth to live young
What are reservoirs
Manmade lakes, rather than from natural/geological processes
Do mysticetes or odontocetes have more species diversity
Odontocetes (toothed whales, porpoises, dolphins) have more species diversity
What is the streamlined structure of aquatic animals an adaptation to?
Viscosity of water
What is a fourth order stream?
One of the later streams in order, so bigger
What is the smallest order of stream?
First order stream
What are catadromous fish?
They migrate to the sea to breed
What are anadromous fish?
They migrate to freshwater to breed
What are potamodromous fish?
Migrate within freshwater
What are diadromous fish?
Migrate between fresh and salt
What are oceanodromous fish?
Migrate within saltwater
What is a starfish?
An echinoderm, and it actually moves to prey on other species
What is a sea anemone or coral?
Cnidarian
What does it mean if water is oligotrophic?
Low in nutrients
When do dead zones occur?
When the water is eutrophic or hypertrophic leading to algal blooms and then hypoxia or anoxia
What is a taxon found only in marine waters?
Echinodermata or Tunicata
What is speciation from a barrier?
Allopatric
What is speciation from colonization?
Peripatric
What is speciation from split habitats in one area?
Parapatric
What is speciation from genetic polymorphism?
Sympatric
What is a taxon with radial symmetry?
Cnidarians, or echinoderms
What is notable about the mandarin duck?
it mates for life, and the females initiate courtship, and they perch on branches
What is notable about the little penguin?
it means good little diver and is the smallest species of penguins, with really dense feathers and countershading, they are true diurnal penguins and there are tricky questions with ecotourism
What is notable about the giant pacific octopus?
Huge, and can squeeze through almost any gap that is the size of their beak, fight for control over dens and are highly cognitively developed
What is notable about the portuguese man of war?
There is no central nervous system or brain, it is a siphonophore so it is made of zooids that combine together, it is pleustic and planktonic with no independent movement, it is free-spawning and left or right handed
What is notable about the hawaiian monk seal?
it is very mysterious, spending 2/3 of life at sea, and it only comes on shore for naps or refuge, it is a carnivore generalist and an apex predator, and the mom cares for the young A LOT
What is notable about the leafy sea dragon?
Camouflage is its weapon, it is not great at swimming, and thus currents are its greatest “predator,” no animal predators are known, the males carry out the pregnancy
What is notable about the Atlantic oyster?
It is a bivalve mollusk and gives a lot of ecosystem services, it can filter a lot of water, it is closely tied to the history of New York, and they can fuse together into huge oyster reefs
What is notable about the blue sea dragon?
It is a gastropod and a nudibranch that floats on its back and is the size of a grape, it has cerata that hold stinging cells from its prey, might have regenerative heads
What is notable about the caribbean reef shark?
Apex predator of coral reefs, keeps prey populations in check, a good sign that the ecosystem is healthy
What is notable about the Manta Ray?
What is notable about the Blue Whale?
What is notable about the Spring Peeper Frog?
