Biological Oceanography Exam 3

Front 1

Primary producers are the foundation of?

Back 1

Food webs

Front 2

Each level in a food web is?

Back 2

A trophic level

Front 3

One basic food web is?

Back 3

Primary producers (phytoplankton) -> primary consumers (herbivorous plankton) -> secondary consumers (carnivorous zooplankton) -> tertiary consumers (carnivores)

Front 4

What is a trophic level?

Back 4

Composed of organisms that obtain their energy in a similar manner, it is an overly simplified compared to a food web

Front 5

Most food chains are?

Back 5

5 levels or less

Front 6

Trophic levels?

Back 6

Shows how energy flows among trophic levels

Front 7

Decomposers are also?

Back 7

A trophic level - feed on decaying organic material

Front 8

What is a food web?

Back 8

Summarizes trophic relationships in an ecosystem, takes all organisms of an ecosystem and who they feed on (Each organism)

Front 9

How does productivity influence available energy?

Back 9

Productivity can have a "bottom-up" effect

Front 10

What is this "bottom-up" effect?

Back 10

Effect higher trophic levels, Ex. seasonal increase in phytoplankton triggers increase in higher trophic levels, pulses throughout food web, when one organism population increases another will increase due to that increase

Front 11

In the Artic, productivity?

Back 11

Peak in summer

Front 12

In the North Atlantic, productivity?

Back 12

More vertical mixing in spring and fall so productivity blooms then

Front 13

In the North Pacific, productivity?

Back 13

Like North Atlantic

Front 14

In the Tropics, productivity?

Back 14

Blooms and pulses throughout

Front 15

Energy decreases with successive trophic levels depends two things?

Back 15

1.) Net primary production at base of the food chain
2.) Efficiency of energy transfers at each higher trophic level

Front 16

What is the general rule for the transfer of energy?

Back 16

Only ~10% of energy stored in biomass in a given trophic level is converted to biomass at the next trophic level

Front 17

The transfer of energy?

Back 17

This loss is one reason why food chains are so short

Front 18

What is ecological efficiency (E)?

Back 18

Percent of energy transfer from one trophic level to the next

Front 19

What is the equation for ecological efficiency?

Back 19

E = Pt/Pt-1 (subscript)

Front 20

E = Pt/Pt-1?

Back 20

Pt is annual production at trophic at trophic level t
Pt-1 is annual production in preceding trophic level

Front 21

Why are efficiencies so low?

Back 21

1.) We need to understand how organisms make use of their energy
2.) Assimilation depends on three factors

Front 22

What is assimilation?

Back 22

Energy content of food digested and absorbed

Front 23

What three factors does assimilation depend on?

Back 23

1.) Ingested energy (I)
2.) Egestion energy (E)
3.) Respired energy (R)

Front 24

What is ingested energy (I)?

Back 24

Energy content of food ingested

Front 25

What is egestion energy (E)?

Back 25

Energy content of indigestible materials defecated (hair, shell, cellulose)

Front 26

What is respired energy (R)?

Back 26

Energy consumer in cellular respiration

Front 27

So assimilation energy (G)?

Back 27

G=ingested-egested- respired energy

Front 28

Assimilated energy becomes?

Back 28

Part of biomass, which can be consumed by the next trophic level

Front 29

Number of trophical levels may be limited by?

Back 29

Ecological efficiency

Front 30

With average E of 10%, only?

Back 30

Only 0.01% will reach the fifth trophic level

Front 31

This is why?

Back 31

There are usually less than five levels in oceanic food chains

Front 32

Higher trophic levels?

Back 32

Have to eat and ingest more to get more energy

Front 33

The microbial loop is?

Back 33

An important part of food webs

Front 34

What is the microbial loop?

Back 34

Microbes (Bacteria and protozoa (Ex. single-celled protozoa)) that mediate the regeneration of nutrients into the food web

Front 35

What are a source of C (carbon, organic matter) for microbes?

Back 35

Plankton, metabolic by-products, and other organic materials (DOC)

Front 36

C is returned to the food web when?

Back 36

Microbes are ingested by pelagic species

Front 37

What is this food chain?

Back 37

DOC -> microbes -> protozoa -> herbivores

Front 38

Nutrient cycling?

Back 38

Nutrients can limit productivity and biomass in marine food webs

Front 39

Most limiting nutrients?

Back 39

Nitrate (NO3-), phosphate (PO4 3-), iron (Fe), and silicate (H2SiO4)

Front 40

What is iron used for?

Back 40

Used as a catalyst for silicon shells

Front 41

Why is nitrogen so important? (2)

Back 41

1.) Forms part of important biomolecules (amino acids, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, hemoglobin)
2.) Influence primary production and can limit how much biomass is produced

Front 42

The N cycle is?

Back 42

Complex due to oxidized and reduced forms

Front 43

The ultimate source of N is?

Back 43

Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) (or molecular nitrogen)

Front 44

How much of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen?

Back 44

78% of atmosphere

Front 45

So how does N get into sea water?

Back 45

1.) Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria convert N2 to ammonium ion, reduces form of ammonium can be dissolved into sea water
2.) Other bacteria convert ammonium into more usable forms of N (Ex. nitrate) that can be taken up by phytoplankton

Front 46

Ammonium is not preferred?

Back 46

By primary producers

Front 47

Nitrogen cycling?

Back 47

atmospheric nitrogen (N2) -- nitrogen fixation (cyanobacteria) -> ammonium (NH4+) --- nitrification (nitrifying bacteria, oxidizing process) -> nitrite (NO2-) --- nitrification -> nitrate (NO3-)
Assimilation of nitrite and nitrate make organic N that then can be turned into ammonium by ammonification of ammonifying bacteria
Nitrate can also undergo denitrification by denitrifying bacteria to turn into atmospheric nitrogen (N2)

Front 48

C is not?

Back 48

Limiting (Nor a nutrient) but is essential for life

Front 49

C cycling involves?

Back 49

Chemical and biological processes

Front 50

More CO2 in seawater?

Back 50

It is readily dissolved, more marine problem then terrestrial

Front 51

CO2?

Back 51

Co2 inputs from atmosphere, respiration, mineralization, and dissolution of CaCO3
CO2 utilization of photosynthesis and formation of CaCO3
CO2 + H2O <=> H2CO3 (carbonic acid) <=> HCO3- (bicarbonate) (<=> CO3 2- (carbonate) + H+) + H+
CO3 2- + Ca2+ -> CaCo3

Front 52

What affect does increase in atmospheric CO2 have on marine life?

Back 52

Seawater pH will decrease (Tampa Bay - 7.8, Open ocean - 8.1)

Front 53

How will pH increase?

Back 53

More carbonic acid which breaks to excess H

Front 54

This process is called?

Back 54

Acidification

Front 55

Increased acidity will? (3)

Back 55

1.) Decrease the strength of calcifying skeletons of benthic invertebrates, coralline algae, and plankton
2.) Effects the integrity of coral reefs
3.) Reduce fertilization rates of marine animals

Front 56

Seaweed are?

Back 56

NOT plants

Front 57

Plant morphology includes?

Back 57

Leaf, stem, and roots

Front 58

The leaf?

Back 58

Is a photosynthetic organ with stomata (pores), photosynthesis occurs here

Front 59

Stems?

Back 59

Supportive organ contains vascular tissue to conduct water (xylem) and sugars (phloem)

Front 60

Roots?

Back 60

Anchoring organ, absorbs dissolved nutrients in water from soil

Front 61

How are seaweeds different from plants? (5)

Back 61

1.) Kingdom Protista
2.) Colonial (Individual is known as thallus)
3.) Photosynthesis occurs throughout (all of thallus)
4.) Seawater is denser (Needs less support)
5.) Water and nutrients absorbed throughout (no need for complex structures, or a transferring system (no vascular tissue))

Front 62

Seaweed morphology?

Back 62

Frond, stipe, and holdfast

Front 63

Frond?

Back 63

Flattened part of stipe, most photosynthesis here, may have flotation structures

Front 64

Stipe?

Back 64

Connects holdfast and fronds; flexible

Front 65

Holdfast?

Back 65

Anchors organism to substrate

Front 66

Some seaweeds have?

Back 66

Pneumatocysts

Front 67

Pneumatocysts?

Back 67

Specialized structure that keeps thallus suspended

Front 68

Pneumatocysts are filled with?

Back 68

Gas, floats

Front 69

Which seaweeds have pneumatocysts?

Back 69

Kelps, Sargassum

Front 70

Seaweed classification? (3)

Back 70

1.) Chlorophyta - green seaweeds
2.) Phaeophyta - brown seaweeds
3.) Rhodophyta - red seaweeds

Front 71

Cholorophyta? (3)

Back 71

1.) Chlorophyll a and b (accessory pigment)
2.) Ancestor to plants (terrestrial)
3.) Morphology ranges from leafy to filamentous (Highly branched)
(Codium fragile was introduced to NE US and destroys oyster beds by smothering oysters)

Front 72

Phaeophyta? (3)

Back 72

1.) Chlorophyll a and c, and fucoxanthin
2.) Morphology ranges from filamentous to the largest seaweeds
3.) Contain phycocolloids (gelatinous chemical) used in many products (medicine (pills), toothpaste, and human food)

Front 73

Kelp is? (4)

Back 73

1.) Brown seaweeds
2.) Largest seaweeds (>15m)
3.) Visibility in kelp forests may be poor
4.) Thrive in cold (<20 degrees C) and nutrient-rich temperate waters

Front 74

Nutrients are absorbed from the water column through?

Back 74

Fronds

Front 75

Fronds grow as much as?

Back 75

A half meter a day

Front 76

Kelp forest community? (5)

Back 76

1.) Kelp shrimp
2.) nudibranchs (sea slugs)
3.) Kelp crab
4.) Fishes (Rock fish, ect...)
5.) Coral

Front 77

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris)? (5)

Back 77

1.) Common in kelp forests
2.) Preys on molluscs, sea urchins, fish
3.) Hunted for fun, almost driven to extinction
4.) Protected after 1911; population is increasing (California coast, Aleutian Islands of Alaska)
5.) Can alter structure of kelp forests

Front 78

Sea otter - urchin - kelp interactions?

Back 78

Sea otters --> - sea urchins ---> kelp
Sea otters thus have a positive on kelp, by eating the urchins the sea otters benefit kelp (Sometime killer whales will keep sea otters in check)

Front 79

Who discovered this interaction?

Back 79

James Estes and colleagues on the Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Where otters are abundant, sea urchins decrease, and kelp increase (Amchitka Island)
There otters are scarce, sea urchins increase, and kelp decrease (Shemya Island)

Front 80

Sea otters are?

Back 80

Keystone species

Front 81

What is a keystone species? (3)

Back 81

1.) Dramatically influence community structure
2.) Has a disproportionate impact on the community relative to abundance
3.) When removed causes the community to change significantly

Front 82

In the Sargasso Sea?

Back 82

Sargassum (Brown macroalgae) floats in rafts that exceed hundreds of meters in diameter

Front 83

Where is the Sargasso Sea?

Back 83

1.) Located within the North Atlantic subtropical gyre (In the middle of the gyre)
2.) Circulation concentrates the algae inside the gyre, allowing it to aggregate in huge mats

Front 84

Characteristics of Sargassum? (5)

Back 84

1.) Brown seaweed
2.) Lives in nutrient poor surface waters of the gyre
3.) Very slow growing
4.) Has a very long lifespan (Decades, centuries)
5.) Due to limited wind mixing, nutrients from decomposers and consumers are recycled back into sargassum growth

Front 85

Sargassum supports many unique species of?

Back 85

Inverts and fishes (Sargassum frogfish and prawns)

Front 86

Rhodophyta? (4)

Back 86

1.) Red seaweeds
2.) Chlorophyll a and d, phycoerthrin, and phycocyanin
3.) Morphology ranges from filamentous to calcerous (Coralline algae -> Only in reds)
4.) Contains two types of phycocolloids: carregeenan (In cream cheese, ice cream, and toothpaste) and agar (for cultivating other)

Front 87

Red coralline algae can be?

Back 87

1.) Non-articulated (encrusting)
2.) Articulating (branching)

Front 88

Red coralline algae? (5)

Back 88

1.) Red seaweed
2.) Secrete calcium carbonate in cell walls
3.) Rocky shorelines and coral reefs
4.) Facilitate invertebrate settlement (Inverts graze epiphytic algae that would otherwise smother coralline algae)
5.) Contributes to coral reef building

Front 89

What is another name for seagrass?

Back 89

Seagrass meadows

Front 90

What is seagrass? (4)

Back 90

1.) Submerged flowering parts in subtidal and lower intertidal soft-sediment habitats (Have little flowers sometimes)
2.) Plantae, angiosperms (Flowering plants)
3.) Descended from terrestrial plants
4.) 50 species worldwide in all regions

Front 91

Important sea grass species?

Back 91

1.) Eel grass (Zostera sp.)
2.) Turtle grass (Thalassia)

Front 92

Eel grass (Zostera sp.)?

Back 92

Temperate zones of North Atlantic, Europe, Asia, and Australia

Front 93

Turtle grass (Thalassia sp.)?

Back 93

Replaces Zostera south of the Carolinas, also on the east African coast

Front 94

The three local seagrass species?

Back 94

1.) Turtle grass species - Thalassia testudinum
2.) Shoal grass - Halodule wrightii
3.) Manatee grass - Syringodium filiforma

Front 95

Local turtle grass species (Thalassia testudinum)?

Back 95

Blade is flat and wide, deeper waters

Front 96

Local shoal grass species (Halodule wrightii)?

Back 96

Blade is flat and narrow, shallower waters

Front 97

Local manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme)?

Back 97

Blade is round (like a manatee) (roll between fingers, if it rolls it is this), deepest waters of sea grasses

Front 98

Sea coverage in Tampa Bay?

Back 98

Has declined by more than 50%

Front 99

What was the reason for this decline? (4)

Back 99

1.) In the 1950's rapid growth of industrialization and development (Invention of the air conditioner)
2.) Not enough water treatment plants, raw sewage dumped into the Bay (Raw sewage makes excess nitrogen that stimulates phytoplankton growth and reduces clarity of water)
3.) Increase of dredge and fill development (man-made land)
4.) In 1980's finally more water processing plants and settling down

Front 100

How do seagrasses grow?

Back 100

By vegetative growth by below ground rhizomes (below ground stems)

Front 101

How do seagrasses sexual reproduce?

Back 101

Pollination and seeds (embryo of sexual reproduction)

Front 102

How are these seeds dispersed and why is this important?

Back 102

Dispersal is dependent upon currents and is important for colonization of new habitats (asexual reproduction produces a rapid population in a local area)

Front 103

Seagrass maximum depth is dependent upon? (3)

Back 103

1.) Light penetration
2.) Water clarity or turbidity (affected by suspended sediments and phytoplankton)
3.) Epiphytic growth

Front 104

Sea grass ephiphytes reduce?

Back 104

Reduce light availability and photosynthesis by 25% or more

Front 105

Excess nutrients in water column can stimulate?

Back 105

Ephiphytic growth

Front 106

How do seagrasses protect from ephiphytic growth?

Back 106

Some seagrasses secrete an antibiotic substance to reduce or protect from epiphytic growth

Front 107

How are seagrasses ecologically important? (5)

Back 107

1.) Increase sediment deposition and stabilization
2.)Increase water clarity (nutrient uptake, trapping suspended sediments)
3.) Contributes to estuarine productivity (carbon produced)
4.) Create substrate for ephiphytic organisms
5.) Enhances biodiversity by providing structure (ex. refuge for juveniles, fish, and inverts)

Front 108

What are mangroves?

Back 108

Halophytic (salt-loving), woody trees and shrubs that are adapted to anoxic (low oxygen) and salty soils

Front 109

Where are mangrove distributed? (3)

Back 109

1.) 80 sp. worldwide
2.) Tropical environment (subtropical - tropical)
3.) South East Asia - Greatest diversity of mangroves (32 sp)

Front 110

Why are mangroves are limited in distribution?

Back 110

Mangroves are temperature limited and do not occur in area where mean monthly temperatures are below 16 C

Front 111

For this reason, where mangroves distribution ends?

Back 111

Salt marshes usually occur

Front 112

How are mangroves adapted to waterlogged anoxic soils?

Back 112

1.) Aerial and shallow roots
2.) Aerenchyma tissue

Front 113

The root systems of mangroves? (4)

Back 113

1.) Pnematophores (black), prop (red), and underground (white)
2.) Provides access to air
3.) Comprise up to 24% of aboveground biomass
4.) Have lenticels (tiny pores where oxygen can enter)

Front 114

Aerenchyma tissue?

Back 114

1.) Allows oxygen to go throughout organism
2.) Honeycomb-like tissue that passively O2 from aboveground to belowground tissues

Front 115

How are mangroves adapted to salty soils? (3)

Back 115

1.) Exclusion of salt and roots
2.) Elimination of access salt by secretion (salt glands on leaves)
3.) High concentration of organic solutes to minimize osmotic stress

Front 116

How do mangrove exclude salt by their roots?

Back 116

Negative hydrostatic pressure keeps up to 90% of salts outs

Front 117

How do mangroves reproduce?

Back 117

Pollination and viviparious

Front 118

Mangrove pollination?

Back 118

Organisms visit plant and transport pollen to another part which then fertilizes the egg of another

Front 119

Viviparious? (4)

Back 119

1.) Bare live young
2.) Embryo seedling releases instead
3.) Dispersed by water
4,) Grow roots after hitting bottom or right spot

Front 120

What is the advantage of viviparious reproduction?

Back 120

1.) Large propagules (seedlings) can survive harsh soil conditions
2.) Dispersed by water currents