Unit 3 Review Marine Ecology Unit 3 Review

Unit 3 Review Marine Ecology

Unit 3 Review 1. List some examples of producers in marine ecosystems. Algae Kelp Plankton Pickleweed Seagrasses Trees (in mangroves)

Unit 3 Review 2. Why are food webs useful tools in ecology? What do they represent? They show the relationship between the producers and consumers. They represent the energy flow in the ecosystem.

Unit 3 Review 3. What is a niche? The way of life of a species, its roll in the community. Each species is thought to have a separate, unique niche Can be described as what it eats, where it lives, and what eats it. Examples?

Unit 3 Review 4. Why are there so many more producers in an ecosystem than top consumers? Energy is lost as it passes up through the trophic levels. 5. What is a trophic level? The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain.

Unit 3 Review 6. Describe how energy flows through an ecosystem. Sun producers primary consumers Secondary consumers Tertiary consumers Decomposers

Unit 3 Review A. Neuston Includes the organisms that live on the top surface of the ocean and just below the surface, only includes a few inches. Covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface Lots of plankton and algae

Unit 3 Review B. Continental shelf Between the low tide mark and the open ocean Located in the photic zone, so there is photosynthesis and abundant plant life Upwellings of nutrients occur here Abundant animal life

Unit 3 Review C. Estuaries Where fresh water empties into the ocean’s salt water Act as a dumping ground, filter, and absorber of nutrients Wide range of salinities Make an excellent nursery for juveniles of ocean species

Unit 3 Review D. Salt Marshes Exist in estuaries where there are flat, gently sloping, nutrient rich sediments. Lots of plant life like pickleweed, cordgrass, and salt grass Can find large communities of invertebrates, water birds, juvenile fish, larva, eggs, etc.

Unit 3 Review E. Mangrove Swamps Found in tropical climates Salt water and fresh water Tangled stilt-like roots allow for air exposure for oxygen exchange and provide habitat for juvenile fish and invertebrates

Unit 3 Review F. Seagrasses Live entirely under water, except during rare ultra-low tides Live as deep as 30 m, no fresh water Usually in under water colonies like pastures Release pollen into the current to reproduce Provide food for microbes, invertebrates, fish, turtles, manatees, and dugongs.

Unit 3 Review G. Intertidal Zones Underwater part time and exposed to the air part time Lots of invertebrates like barnacles, limpets, mussels, sea starswith adaptations to help them maintain moisture when exposed to air

H. Beaches Unit 3 Review Sand waves Sand helps protect coastlines from waves The sand looks empty, but it is full of meiofauna and other organic material-rich in life Worms, mollusks, and fish live in submerged sand

Unit 3 Review I. Kelp & Seaweed Forests Found globally in cool water Most productive are in coastal waters with upwellings Ample sunlight and nutrients Provide habitat for substantial ecosystem Kelp, sea urchins, otters

Unit 3 Review J. Coral Reefs Most scientists believe coral reefs are the most taxonomically diverse ecosystems in the ocean The Indo-West Pacific has the world’s highest marine diversity More than 2, 000 species of fish Water is relatively free of nutrients

Unit 3 Review K. Arctic Northern ring of shallow continental shelf, with a deep sea Much of this is permanently frozen Life is scarce under the ice cap, around the edges life is more abundant Polar bears, seals, walruses, whales, fish

L. Antarctic Unit 3 Review More extreme climate then Arctic Massive amounts of nutrients result from the spring melting of ice-the largest nutrient rich area on Earth Supports massive phytoplankton blooms Copepod and krill populations are larger than any other species population found in any other ecosystem

Unit 3 Review M. Abyssal Zone Deep ocean beyond the continental shelves Most of the nutrients come from marine snow-the constant fall of sediment, dead organisms, and fecal pellets from above. Brittle sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea lilies, angler fish, viperfish

Unit 3 Review N. Whale Falls deep ocean Whale carcasses provide massive amounts of nutrients Scavengers first-hagfish, deep sea spider crabs, sleeper sharks Second stage-worms, small crustaceans, other small organisms feed Third stage-decaying bone feed chemosynthetic bacteria

Unit 3 Review O. Hydrothermal vents Heated water, near edges of continental shelves, Mid. Atlantic Ridge Chemosynthetic bacteria that feed on sulfides form basis of food web Tube worms, crabs, shrimp

Unit 3 Review P. Hadal depths Deep ocean trenches where continental plates collide Deepest parts of the ocean High pressure, no light, not much known about the ecosystem or life there