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Marine Ecology > Test 1 > Flashcards

Test 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is azoic theory?

A

no life is found on the seafloor deeper than 300 (1800 ft) fathoms

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2
Q

How do marine laboratories benefit our understanding of marine biology and ecology?

A

Scientists come together to share knowledge and work together on projects

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3
Q

What technological advancements allowed/allows for a better understanding of marine biology and ecology?

A

SCUBA - 1878 - Jacques Cousteau - 1942 - first open circuit we use today
Navigational tools
Submarines
Remotely operated vehicles
Autonomous underwater vehicles
Drones

All allow scientists to sense, observe & experiment more easily

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4
Q

What is Marine Ecology?

A

The study of how marine organisms interact with each other and the environment

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5
Q

What is plankton?

A

Organisms suspended in the water column

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6
Q

What is neuston?

A

Microorganisms associated w/ the sea surface

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7
Q

What is nekton?

A

Larger animals in the water column that can swim. Dominated by high Re numbers

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8
Q

Benthos subtidal communities

A

Infaunal - burrow into sediment; Epifaunal - on seabed surface; Demersal - mobile organisms on seafloor

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9
Q

How does water move?

A

Movement is driven by wind, density, and tides

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10
Q

What are gyres?

A

The circular movement of water that results in clockwise movement in the N. Hemisphere, and counterclockwise in the S. Hemisphere

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11
Q

What are eddies?

A

Spin-offs or meanders from currents that form cold or warm rings

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12
Q

What are currents?

A

Water movements created by wind belts, which occur latitudinally, and are caused by the differential heating of atmospheric air.

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13
Q

What is the Coriolis effect?

A

The deflection of water as the earth rotates on its axis. Aids currents.

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14
Q

What is the global ocean conveyor belt?

A

Vertical & deepwater circulation regulated by differences in water density. High-latitude water masses (cold & saline) sink due to their higher densities and move to lower latitudes.

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15
Q

What are decadal oscillations?

A

La Nina & El Nino. During El Niño, trade winds weaken. Warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the Americas. La Niña has the opposite effect of El Niño. During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface. Dry South & rainy PNW

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16
Q

What is upwelling?

A

Coastal & equatorial upwelling is where deeper, colder, nutrient-rich water comes to the surface, as surface winds push the warmer top layer away.

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17
Q

What are Langmuir Cells?

A

Langmuir Cells arise from wind shearing at surface, can form flotsam to congregate on water surface

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18
Q

Difference b/t terrestrial & marine systems?

A

Seawater has a greater density (up to 800x), greater viscosity (60x), and it transmits sound faster (4x). It has low electrical resistivity and absorbs light. Large structural plants are insignificant. Marine herbivores are smaller and can remove autotrophs entirely. Large animals are carnivores at sea. Terrestrial food chains are shorter (3x5)..

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19
Q

What are the chemical & physical properties of seawater?

A

Hydrogen bonds create high surface tension and high heat capacity, buffering temperature fluctuations. Seawater absorbs heat and evaporates slowly. Universal solvent due to the H+ bonds. Dissolved material referred to as salinity, measured in ppt or psu. Open ocean 34-37 ppt (psu), can vary due to evaporation, precipitation, and freshwater input. Oxygen & carbon dioxide are two gases found in seawater. Absorbed through the atmosphere, and a function of temperature, coastal areas are strongly influenced by photosynthesis & respiration.

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20
Q

What is an individual?

A

Defined as an organism that is physiologically independent of others. Clonal species can be challenging to classify.

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21
Q

What are individual interactions?

A

Territoriality =maintenance and defense of home range (+-,–); Predation (+-); Communalism = can be faculative (ex. barnacles) or obligatory (fish w/ manta) (+0); Mutualism = benefits both (ex. clown fish & anemone) (++); Parasitism = may lose organs, take over reproductive systems or have multiple hosts (+-); Faciliation = reduce physical or biotic stresses in existing or created habitats (++)

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22
Q

What are some examples of predator and prey models?

A

Optimal foraging theory - successful predators have better fitness, natural selection optimized energy transfer, optimize food intake; Diet-breadth model - if food density is high, feed on optimal idem; Time in patch model - long travel time b/t patches = more time foraging in patch

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23
Q

What are some predator avoidance tactics?

A

Mimicry, deceit, crypsis, escape responses, warning colors, chemical toxins. Defense production can reduce growth rates and provide less energy for reproduction

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24
Q

What is a population

A

All organisms of a given species in a particular area

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25
Q

What is a community?

A

All biotic components living in a common area, where assemblages of populations interact

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26
Q

What is an assemblage?

A

A taxonomically related gorup that occurs in the same area (ex. fish assemblages as part of coral community)

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27
Q

What are fundamental and realized niches?

A

Fundamental = where a specie can live; Realized = where a species does live

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28
Q

What are ecosystem services?

A

Beneficial result of an ecosystem function, usually described as beneficial to humans (ex. forest = carbon extraction, oysters = remove heavy metals from water)

29
Q

What are R vs K resources?

A

R populations have many offspring, with low survivorship, K populations have few offspring, with high survivorship

30
Q

What are meta or subpopulations?

A

Groups near each other act as stepping stones, each occupying a realized niche near each other, and maintaining population through immigration.

31
Q

What are “sinks” and “sources”?

A

Sinks are subpopulations that receive immigration from sources. Sources sent emigrants to sinks.

32
Q

What are distribution and abundance determined by?

A

Dispersal of larva, competition, predation/ herbivory, parasitisms, disturbances, facilitation

33
Q

What is competition?

A

Competition happens when two individuals exploit the same resource. Competition may result in displacement, preemption, or differential efficiency

34
Q

Who was Joesph Connell?

A

Joesph Connell studied competition, predation, and the effects of physical factors on barnacles in Scotland. Using barnacles he explained fundamental vs realized niche. His studies were ground-breaking for 2 reasons. 1.) They were carefully designed field experiments to examine the factors controlling abundance and distribution of species. 2.) Gave a more unified view of the processes that structure community.

35
Q

What are the reasons for the lack of competitive exclusion?

A

Competitive networks, lottery hypothesis, disturbances, habitat complexity

36
Q

What are disturbances?

A

Disturbances upset equilibriums and affect dispersal and distribution of organisms. They change resource availability and/ or physical properties. Occur at different frequencies.

37
Q

What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?

A

Species diversity maximized at intermediate predation and disturbance levels

38
Q

What is succession?

A

The predictable ordering, arrival and dominance of species following a disturbance. Final state, if achieved is climax community

39
Q

What are phase shifts?

A

Alternate with stable states. Resilience displays communities’ ability to resist and return to initial “stable” state. Resilience should increase diversity of species

40
Q

What is functional redundancy?

A

Two or more species fill similar niches or roles in an ecosystem

41
Q

What is a trophic cascade?

A

A strong interaction b/t trophic levels, where changes in one result in an indirect impact on another. ex. carnivores indirectly result in plant increase due to the reduction in herbivores

42
Q

What are biomass and productivity?

A

The mass of organisms present in a defined area or volume (g/m^2), distinguished by productivity, which is the amount of living material, or carbon produced, per m^2

43
Q

What are the bottom-up and top-down effects?

A

A disruption from the bottom (usually increase in nutrients), affects upper trophic layers. A top-down usually includes a decrease in top predator levels, which effects lower trophic levels

44
Q

What are autotrophs and heterotrophs?

A

Autotrophs produce energy, heterotrophs consume autotrophs

45
Q

What is the oxygen minimum layer?

A

A depth zone (~200m-1200m) w/ minimal dissolved oxygen, and controlled by natural processes and cycles.

46
Q

What is seawater composed of?

A

95.6% water, 3.5% dissolved substances (salinity/ppt). Major elements include chloride, sodium, sulfur, magnesium, calcium & potassium. Minor elements include phosphorus, nitrogen, and iron. These trace amounts are critical to marine plants

47
Q

What are the different tidal periodicities?

A

Semidiurnal: 2 high & low tides per day of equal weight; Diurnal: 1 high & low tide per day; Mixed: 2 high & low with unequal height and water movement

48
Q

How does temperature affect reproduction?

A

Temperature sets timing of reproduction and can effect the sex of the offspring

49
Q

How do organisms cope with temperature stress?

A

Move, acclimate, die. Alter metabolism by regulating ion concentration to prevent freezing, or releasing heat shock proteins that forestall unfolding of proteins. Growth and reproduction effected. Warming shifts geographic distributions of organsims (ex. black mangroves)

50
Q

How do organisms cope with salinity stress?

A

Osmoregulation, regulate salinity ions in body. Bony fish are less salty than seawater and eliminate ions through their gills

51
Q

What role does oxygen play in marine ecosystems?

A

Organisms require O^2, the consumption rate is regulated by body size. The rate increase w/ activity. The uptake of oxygen is done either by diffusion or by specialized gills

52
Q

How do organisms cope with low oxygen?

A

Regulate uptake with oxygen-binding pigments, leave or die

53
Q

What is dynamic viscosity?

A

The molecular stickiness b/t layers of fluid

54
Q

What is the Reynolds Number?

A

The measure of the importance of inertial and viscous effects on an object in fluid. Velocitysizedensity/ dynamic viscosity. High Re dominated by inertia, low Re don’t move bc viscous forces dominate. @ constant temp, Re increases w/ velocity or size

55
Q

What is the no-slip condition

A

Water velocity will decrease to zero at the bottom surface

56
Q

What are boundary layers?

A

Concentrations of CO^2 that accumulate in slow flow around marine organisms. Some species have sensory structures placed outside of these layers (ex. catfish)

57
Q

What is Bernoulli’s principle?

A

Pressure varies inversely w/ fluid velocity, and pressure differences can be used to create lift or current

58
Q

What is drag?

A

When pressure differs upstream and downstream of an object. Some organisms reduce by streamlining

59
Q

What is migration?

A

Migration in a life cycle when an organism moves from one habitat or region to another due to changing food requirements and to minimize competition b/t offspring & adult

60
Q

What is homing and how is it done?

A

An animals ability to return to a place or territory after travel. Done by landmarks, celestial influence, and magnetic fields

61
Q

What are three fish migratory patterns that involve estuaries?

A

Diadromous = divide their lives b/t freshwater & seawater; Anadromous = live in seawater b/t spawn in freshwater; Catadromous = live in freshwater but spawn in seawater

62
Q

What are the advantages of planktonic dispersal?

A

Avoid crowding, local habitat loss doesn’t equal extinction, spreading over many habitats “hedging bets”, reduce likelihood of inbreeding, and to take advantage of phytoplankton source

63
Q

What are some examples of plankton?

A

Diatoms, green algae, coccolithophores, zooxanthellae, crustacean zooplankton, krill

64
Q

What are some examples of nekton?

A

Cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, chambered nautilius), Osteichthyes (bony fishes), Chondrichthyes (sharks, rays and skates), marine mammals (Carnivora, Cetecea, Sirenia)

65
Q

How does Re affect feeding in Copepods?

A

Viscous flow around appendages, sensory hairs move slow, detect and trap food. May have to strain off water layer around it. Larger copepods may use inertia, but still detect w/ sensory hairs

66
Q

What causes patches of plankton?

A

Horizontal spatial changes in physical & chemical conditions. Depth gradients in salinity & temperature. Water turbulence & current transport. Grazing. Reproductive behavior. Feeding behavior. Persistence of phytoplankton patch is balance b/t growth and dispersion in absence of grazing.

67
Q

What are Diel Vertical Migrations?

A

Plankton that swim to the surface at night and to depths, at times greater than 1,000 meters. Sink during day to depth, but have to swim at night to surface

68
Q

What are the hypotheses for Diel Vertical Migrations?

A

Strong light hypothesis: avoid damaging UV and light intensities (dive deeper than necessary); Plankton recovery process: allow food resources to replenish during day (requires it to be advantageous for all to work together); Predation hypothesis: avoid being seen by predators (support = migrations stronger when planktivorous fish abundant, small zooplankton leave earlier than large, lipid-rich stay deeper & come to surface less; cons = dive deeper than needed, clear & bioluminescent organisms migrate); Energy conservation hypothesis: conserve energy in cold dark waters where metabolism slows (support = migration cost appears low, lipid-rich stay deeper & come to surface less, lower energy expended when food depleted; cons = balance energy rising and falling, plus reproduction and growth); Surface mixing hypothesis: new surface waters to feed on phytoplankton. Seems most likely that predation avoidance &/ or energy conservation drives vertical migration

Marine Ecology (1 decks)

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