Neritric zone Flashcards
How would you describe the waters of the neritic zone
The waters of the neritic zone are fertile and support a rich community of organisms.
What are the dominant phytoplankton found in the neritic zone?
Diatoms and dinoflagellates.
Give an example of a regular succession of phytoplankton species with season.
in the irish sea there are two major phytoplankton blooms between march and august. The first bloom by C. debile peaking in april with a smaller bloom in October and the second by R. shrubsolei peaking in June.
There are 2 smaller blooms, one in april and the other slightly smaller one in November by B. mobilensis and another smaller bloom in July by C. tripos.
What seas are known to have regular succession of phytoplankton with season?
Temperate and polar seas.
Describe the zooplankton in the Neritic zone
Zooplankton are more diverse and are dominated by arthropods like copepods plus many gelatinous forms like jellyfish and ctenophores.
Describe plankton distribution in the neritic zone and how it is advantageous to zooplankton.
Plankton are distributed patchily. There are floating plankton edges of circulation cells where currents converge.
This patchy distribution is advantageous to zoo plankton because they don’t expend so much energy on feeding.
Describe the formation of nekton in the neritic zone.
Because nekton have the ability to swim against currents they can actively search for a hospitable environment.
Many fish school, or group in clumps and swim together, which is another form of patchiness.
Individuals within a school maintain a regular 3D spacing.
This means that with considerations to climate change, the nekton group will be able to adapt to changing conditions where plankton can’t change their habitat.
What are the benefits of fish schooling together?
Schooling can protect fish from vidual predators such as seabirds.
Seabirds use techniques like chasing, diving, plunging, skimming and dipping to hunt fish.
