Honors Marine Biology Marine Ecology December 13 2012

Honors Marine Biology Marine Ecology December 13, 2012

The Cutest Pet

Food Webs of the Marine Life • Feeding relationships are often shown as simple food chains – in reality, these relationships are much more complex, and the term ‘food web’ more accurately shows the links between producers, consumers and decomposers.

• A food web diagram illustrates ‘what eats what’ in a particular habitat. • Pictures represent the organisms that make up the food web, and their feeding relationships are typically shown with arrows. • The arrows represent the transfer of energy and always point from the organism being eaten to the one that is doing the eating.

Trophic levels • Organisms in food webs are commonly divided into trophic levels. • These levels can be illustrated in a trophic pyramid where organisms are grouped by the role they play in the food web.

Arctic Food Web

Food Web • http: //www. bing. com/images/search? q=ma rine+food+web+diagram&view=detail&id= 133 ACCA 7703 AA 0 BC 736803 C 58339 BEE B 7 CAEC 43 D&qpvt=marine+food+web+dia gram

Chesapeake Bay Sea Grass Beds • Bay grasses are plants that grow underwater. They are found in the shallow waters of the Bay and its streams, creeks and rivers. • Bay grasses are also known as submerged aquatic vegetation or SAV. • Bay grasses are a critical part of the Bay ecosystem. They provide underwater life with food and habitat, absorb nutrients, trap sediment, reduce erosion, and add oxygen to the water. • Bay grasses are an excellent measure of the Bay’s overall condition because their health is closely linked with the Bay’s health. • Pollution and extreme weather conditions are two factors that hinder bay grass growth. • Improving water clarity is the most important part of bay grass restoration because bay grasses need sunlight to grow.

Scallops return to Barnegat Bay • Research professor Michael Kennish: This is really exciting. Scallops were totally decimated years ago, and now they're coming back. "Around 50 years ago, these things were really plentiful. " The scallops' reappearance is one bright spot in the troubled modern history of Barnegat Bay, years that have seen native fish and plant species fade away, and even a neardisappearance of the bay's once mighty clam resources.

2012 BAY SCALLOP SUMMARY: FOR THE CHARLOTTE HARBOR ESTUARIES OF LEMON BAY & GASPARILLA SOUND • Volunteers gather scallop data to determine health of our area waters.

• We monitor bay scallops in southwest Florida because they are an important species to both humans and the environment. When coastal waters are able to support bay scallops it is a sign of reasonably good water quality and seagrass conditions. Many volunteers participating in the search this year commented about how healthy the seagrass looked. Healthy seagrass is very important habitat for bay scallops, but it’s only part of the story.

• Bay scallops are essentially an annual crop, completing their life cycle over the course of a year. In Florida, spawning typically occurs in the autumn. Scallops rapidly grow and mature in the spring and summer of the following year and then rapidly die after spawning. Predators take their toll and following spawning scallops are in a weakened condition and often become riddled with parasites. An 18 -month old scallop is indeed a very, very old scallop. Hence the abundance of scallops in an area depends upon the success of the spawn and the ability of larvae, being transported by water currents to reach suitable seagrass habitat.

• Bay scallops are monitored throughout the year by counting recruiting scallops, referred to as spat (phase when scallops first settle on seagrass blades). If you see a yellow and red float located close together while out on the water, chances are you are looking at spat collectors. The Spat is monitored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) with the support of partners, from St. Andrew’s Bay to Pine Island Sound, including eight sites in coastal Charlotte County which are maintained by Sea Grant.

Oyster Beds

Man-made Lagoon

Why Build Reefs? • Man’s activities and natural disasters have led to a reductions in our natural reef systems. • Recreationally, growth in sports fishing, scuba diving, and boating has increased the pressures on these systems. • Commercially, our seafood industry is dependent on developing the ocean to enable ever larger, yet sustainable, harvests.

• The loss of our natural systems, coupled with increased use, compels us to do everything we can to save natural reefs. • Even so, the natural reefs cannot rebuild themselves fast enough to meet human demands. • Long lasting artificial reefs are useful tools for restoring our reef systems to a natural and productive balance

Reef Balls

• Netflex movie of : • Mike Rowe Season 3 Episode 12 • Reef Innovations

Sarasota Bay 30 Months later after placing the Reef Balls • http: //youtu. be/Hnno. Flr. Cz_M

Homework • Continue reading Module 8 to the end of the chapter. • Complete OYO Questions • Complete Study Guide • Finish Lab • Quiz on Food Web • Class challenge