Marine Ecology Questions

Front 1

List the four types of estuaries

Back 1

Drowned river valley
Bar-built estuary
Fjord-type estuary
Tectonic estuary

Front 2

Define estuary

Back 2

A semi-enclosed, coastal body of water, which has a free connection to the open sea, and within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water derived from land drainage.

Front 3

Types of coastal habitats

Back 3

Salt marsh
Mangroves
Sea grass beds
Sand dunes
Sand beaches
pelagic realm
oceanic benthos
coral reefs
hard substrate

Front 4

Define Marine Ecology

Back 4

Biological process and functions of marine organisms as mediated by biological, geological, physical, and chemical aspects of their environment.

Front 5

Name the three themes of Marine Ecology

Back 5

Environment - abiotic factors
Diversity - biotic communities and their classification, organization, structure, origin, and evolution
Ecology - interrelationships between environment and biota (populations and communities)

Front 6

What are examples of abiotic factors?

Back 6

Chemical - water, pH, salinity, nutrients, dissolved gasses
Physical - temperature, light, pressure, tides, currents, waves, air exposure
Geological - substratum type, substratum motion, substratum origin/age

Front 7

List the biotic levels of organization

Back 7

Individual - one of a kind
Populations - all of one species in an area defined by a common gene pool
Communities - populations of different species in a given area
Ecosystem - many communities
Biosphere - all living organisms living in the thin layer of crust and atmosphere of Earth

Front 8

List the primary producers

Back 8

Phytoplankton
Benthic algae
Macroalgae
Symbiotic producers
Angiosperms

Front 9

What organisms contribute up to 95% of the total primary production in open water?

Back 9

Phytoplankton

Front 10

Name different phytoplankton and their main characteristics

Back 10

Diatoms
Dinoflagellates
Coccolithophorids
Silicoflagellates
Cyanobacteria
Prochlorophytes

Front 11

Diatoms

Back 11

cilica and pectin cell walls, frustule, coastal zones, colder nutrient-rich water

Front 12

Dinoflagellates

Back 12

single floating cell, flagellated, parasitic or symbiotic

Front 13

Coccolithophorids

Back 13

single cell, ornate calcareous plates with gelatinous sheath, warmer, open ocean

Front 14

Silicoflagellates

Back 14

single, flagellated cell with silicious outer skeleton, colder nutrient-rich water

Front 15

Cyanobacteria

Back 15

blue-green algae, photosynthetic Eubacteria, chitin cell wall, can be single, clumped, in filaments, or benthic mats

Front 16

Prochlorophytes

Back 16

prokaryotic, deeper waters

Front 17

What are the size classifications of phytoplankton?

Back 17

Microplankton - net plankton 20-200um, diatoms, dinoflagellates
Nanoplankton - 2-20um, diatoms, coccolithophores, silicoflagellates
Picoplankton - <2um, cyanobacteria, prochlorophytes

Front 18

What are three classes of benthic producers?

Back 18

Mud and sandy - microphytobenthos, sea grass, emergent grass, mangroves
Rocky and hard bottoms - macroalgae
Coral Reefs - symbiotic dinoflagellates, red coralline algae

Front 19

What are three types of primary producers?

Back 19

Autotrophic - produce own energy-rich molecules from reductant
Photosynthetic - light source of energy
Chemosynthetic - inorganic compounds provide sources of stored energy

Front 20

What is the equation for photosynthesis?

Back 20

CO2 + 2H2A --> CH2O + 2A + H2O

Front 21

What is oxygenic photosynthesis?

Back 21

Uses H2O as reductant

Front 22

What is anoxygenic photosynthesis?

Back 22

H2S as reductant

Front 23

What happens in the light reaction of photosynthesis?

Back 23

H2A is split, releasing an electron, making ATP and NADPH2

Front 24

What happens in the dark reaction of photosynthesis?

Back 24

ATP and NADPH2 are used to fix CO2 into organic compounds

Front 25

When are photosynthetic rates highest? Lowest?

Back 25

Highest in corals, macroalgae, and some microalgae. Lowest in phytoplankton

Front 26

What are some examples of how to measure primary production?

Back 26

Chlorophyll A extraction, light/dark bottles, carbon-14 measurements

Front 27

What is a cohort?

Back 27

A group of individuals of the same age

Front 28

Define Population Density

Back 28

Number of individuals per unit area of a given species

Front 29

What are the three population distributions?

Back 29

Uniform
Clumped (aggregated)
Random

Front 30

What affects density and distribution?

Back 30

Resource distribution
Competition - intra and interspecific
Recruitment variability

Front 31

What can limit the growth of a population?

Back 31

Physical factors (temp)
Chemical factors (salinity, oxygen)
Food availability
Space
Predation
Disease

Front 32

What are the three types of dispersal?

Back 32

Immigration - movement into an area
Emmigration - movement out of an area
Exploitation - predation/parasitism, harvesting/fishing

Front 33

What is the equation for population size and what does each factor stand for?

Back 33

N=(b-d) + (I-E)
N=number pf individuals
b=natality
d=death
I=immigration
E=emigration

Front 34

What can cause a rapid population change?

Back 34

Decrease generation time, increase net gain due to difference between reproduction and mortality

Front 35

What are the characteristics of a J-curve?

Back 35

Accelerating slope, high natality, low mortality, longevity, no emigration, unlimited growth

Front 36

What factors can limit K (carrying capacity)?

Back 36

Food, space, disease/parasitism, cannibalism, recruitment of juveniles

Front 37

What is the inflection point?

Back 37

Threshold where rate of change goes from positive to negative (N=K/2)

Front 38

What are the assumptions of S-curve?

Back 38

All individuals contribute equally, r is constant, K is constant, no time lag

Front 39

When do regular oscillations occur?

Back 39

Periodic changes in seasonally or other regularly occurring patterns

Front 40

When do irregular oscillations occur?

Back 40

Variable, non-periodic environmental conditions

Front 41

What are causes of failure in populations?

Back 41

Increase predation, decreased food supply, decreased space, and abiotic factors

Front 42

(Intro and Basic Concepts Cont) What reasons make an ecosystem self-sustaining?

Back 42

A source of energy - usually the sun
Primary producers - organisms capable of assimilating the energy
Consumers - transfer organic molecules through food web
Nutrient cycles - transfer between abiotic and biotic spheres

Front 43

List the three marine environments

Back 43

Estuary - zone of salt and freshwater mixing
Continental shelf - up to 150 miles offshore
Open ocean - >150 miles offshore

Front 44

What are the two marine zones?

Back 44

Benthic - sediments, substrata, ocean bottom
Pelagic - open waters, water column

Front 45

What are the benthic zones?

Back 45

Littoral - intertidal
Continental shelf - subtidal to 150-200m out, low angle descent
Continental slope - 200-4000m, greater angle of descent
Abyssal Plain - 4000m-6000m, flat
Hadal - >6000m, trenches

Front 46

List pelagic surface zones

Back 46

Neretic - nearshore, usually very productive coastal zone
Oceanic - offshore, relatively non-productive

Front 47

List pelagic depth zones

Back 47

Epipelagic - top 150m, photic
Mesopelagic - 150m-1000m, aphotic
Bathypelagic- 1000-4000m, aphotic
Abyssal Pelagic - 4000-6000m, aphotic

Front 48

List littoral zones

Back 48

Supratidal - above high tide
Intertidal - between high and low tides
Subtidal - below low tide

Front 49

List salinity zones

Back 49

Oligohaline - 0.5-5 ppt
Mesohaline - 5-18ppt
Polyhaline - 18-30ppt
Euhaline - 30-40ppt

Front 50

What is a halocline?

Back 50

Region of rapid change in salinity

Front 51

What does Eury mean?

Back 51

Organisms able to tolerate large changes in conditions, adapted to less stable environment

Front 52

What does Steno mean?

Back 52

Organisms unable to tolerate large changes in conditions, constant environment

Front 53

(Population Ecology Cont.) Give an example of the three types of survivoship curves and their characteristics

Back 53

Type I - humans, very low juvenile mortality, live long, die at old age
Type II - Coral, fairly constant rate of mortality
Type III - Plants, most offspring die, those that survive live long

Front 54

What do the variables of the life table stand for?

Back 54

Look at Population Ecology PowerPoint (Population Age Structure Slide)

Front 55

What are some methods of obtaining life table data?

Back 55

Follow cohort over lifetime
Record age of death of individuals marked at birth
Age carcasses
Age population killed catastrophe
Census living population

Front 56

What is semelparity?

Back 56

Breed once in a lifetime

Front 57

What is iteroparity

Back 57

Breed repeatedly over lifetime (annually)

Front 58

What are the three reproductive strategies?

Back 58

R-K dichotomy
Bet-hedging in variable environment, mix of characteristics of r-K selected
Abundance/intermittency hypothesis - three types

Front 59

What are characteristics of r-selection?

Back 59

Reproduce early, high fecundity, semelparous, no parental care, numerous offspring, short-lived

Front 60

What are K-selection characteristics?

Back 60

Later reproduction, low fecundity, iteroparous, parental care, long gestation, large offspring, long lifespan

Front 61

What are the three types of abundance reproductive strategy?

Back 61

Adversity selected - resource poor environment; constant low population density
Exploitative - unpredictable conditions; opportunistic generalists; sharp increase in population growth
Saturation - constant conditions, high density, high competition

Front 62

What is Liebig's Law of the Minimum?

Back 62

Yield is proportional to the amount of the most limiting nutrient

Front 63

Density-Dependent Factors

Back 63

Intraspecific competition
interspecific competition
social behavior
predation
parasitism
pathogenic disease
biotic emissions

Front 64

Density Independent

Back 64

Abiotic Factors:
Drought
Flooding
Extreme temperatures
Oxygenic depletion
chemical poison
excess turbidity
seasonal changes

Front 65

What is the Q10 principle or Van Hoff's principle?

Back 65

Within certain ranges, for every 10 degrees C increase in temperature, metabolic activities are double or tripled

Front 66

Define biotic community

Back 66

The combined assemblage of plants and animals inhabiting the same physical area.

Front 67

What is a dominant species?

Back 67

Most common in a community; also may be co-dominant

Front 68

Give examples of a community and its dominant species

Back 68

Sand dunes - beach grass
Salt marsh - marsh grass
Sea grass beds - sea grass
Mangrove swamp - red,black or white mangrove trees
Pelagic water - phytoplankton
Coral reef - coral animals

Front 69

Define ecological niche

Back 69

Organisms functional role or what resources it utilizes within its environment

Front 70

Define competition

Back 70

When organisms living in the same place use the same limited resources

Front 71

What are some limiting resources?

Back 71

Space, food, oxygen, light, nutrients

Front 72

What is Gause's competitive exclusion principle?

Back 72

If two competing species coexist in a stable environment, then they do so as a result of niche differentiation.

Front 73

What is a realized niche?

Back 73

The niche the species actually occupies or is restricted to in the natural world.

Front 74

What is a fundamental niche?

Back 74

Niche that the species could have access to, but is not due to some restriction

Front 75

What is resource partitioning?

Back 75

Utilization of different aspects of resources, size, while other species utilizes other portion of resource

Front 76

What does each of the variables in the Lotka-Volterra model for predation stand for?

Back 76

P=prey number
C=predator number
a'=attack frequency
f=efficiency of prey to convert food to offspring
q=mortality rate of predators in absence of prey

Front 77

What are the assumptions of the Lotka-Volterra model for predation?

Back 77

Prey grows exponentially in absence of predator
Predator population declines exponentially in absence of prey
Predators move at random among randomly distributed prey
Proportions of encounters that result in capture are constant at all predator prey densities
No time lag

Front 78

What is the Simpson's index of dominance?

Back 78

The probability that two individuals are of the same species.

Front 79

What are the major nutrients?

Back 79

Carbon
nitrogen
phosphorous
oxygen
silicon
magnesium
potassium
calcium
iron
copper
vanadium
vitamins

Front 80

How are nutrients lost to the deeper regions of the ocean?

Back 80

marine snow
sinking carcasses
fecal pellets
....All of these fall to the bottom of the ocean floor

Front 81

What are some limiting factors in seawater?

Back 81

Nitrogen and phosphorous

Front 82

What are some dissolved organics?

Back 82

Fats
oils
carbohydrates
vitamins
amino acids
proteins

Front 83

How are organic compounds produced and why are they important?

Back 83

Produced through photosynthesis and chemosythesis. Important food sources for bacteria and fungi

Front 84

What are some biological fates of carbon?

Back 84

Formation of shells, bones and carbonate buffer system

Front 85

What are the sources of carbon?

Back 85

Atmosphere
Respiration
Bacterial decomposition
Chemical reactions with water

Front 86

What are the two forms of organic carbon?

Back 86

DOC - dissolved organic carbon
POC - particulate organic carbon

Front 87

What are some characteristics of DOC?

Back 87

Passes through 0.2-0.45um mesh
high quality molecules
in forms of carbohydrates, sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids

Front 88

What are some characteristics of POC?

Back 88

Living: phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacteria
Dead - detritus, morphous fragments, mucus, amorphous aggregations

Front 89

What are external sources of organic carbon?

Back 89

Photosynthesis, river input, horizontal transport, marsh export, wind transport, human-made hydrocarbons.
Death of producers, defecation from consumers, fragmentation during feeding, aggregation and absorption of DOC

Front 90

What are internal sources of organic carbon?

Back 90

Excretion by consumers
Release from cells during feeding and viral lysis
Leaching
Hydrolysis
Exudation by primary producers

Front 91

What are some losses of organic carbon?

Back 91

Sedimentation
Consumption
Aggregation
Decomposition
Burial

Front 92

What are the three decomposition processes?

Back 92

Leaching
Microbial degradation
Refractory phase

Front 93

What is the only source of phosphorous

Back 93

Lithogenic-erosion of rocks and soils

Front 94

What are the biological uses of phosphorous?

Back 94

ATP, nucleic acids, phospholipids, bones, teeth

Front 95

In what four forms does phosphorous occur in the ocean?

Back 95

DIP, DOP, Particulate phosphorous, living tissue (majority)

Front 96

What are the biological uses of nitrogen?

Back 96

Protein synthesis
Amino acids
Deamination
Ammonia

Front 97

What are the characteristics of nitrate?

Back 97

Most oxidized
Most abundant
Used directly by plants
Assimilated to amine form

Front 98

What are the forms of nitrogen?

Back 98

Nitrate
Ammonium ion
DON
sediments

Front 99

What are the sources of nitrogen?

Back 99

Nitrogen fixation, vertical mixing, horizontal transportation, precipitation

Front 100

What are the losses of nitrogen?

Back 100

Burial
transport
denitrification