Marine Ecology Exam 1

Front 1

Estuary

Back 1

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
- Pritchard 1967

Front 2

Habitats

Back 2

Salt marshes and mangroves
Sand dunes and beaches
Sea grass beds
Coral Reefs
Pelagic Realm
Oceanic Benthos
Hard Substrate

Front 3

Types of Estuaries

Back 3

Drowned river valleys
Bar-built estuaries
Fjord-type estuaries
Tectonic estuaries

Front 4

Marine Ecology

Back 4

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

Front 5

Ecology

Back 5

Interrelationships between environment and biota (populations and communities)

Front 6

Diversity

Back 6

biotic communities and their classification, organization, structure, origin, and evolution

Front 7

Biota

Back 7

the animals, plants, fungi, etc. of a region or period

Front 8

Marine Biota

Back 8

Distribution directly affected by abiotic environment (as well as terrestrial environment)
-study abiotic factors

Front 9

Chemical Abiotic Factors

Back 9

Water, pH, Salinity, Nutrients, Dissolved Gasses

Front 10

Physical Abiotic Factors

Back 10

Light, Temperature, Pressure, Tides, Currents, Waves, Air Exposure

Front 11

Geological Abiotic Factors

Back 11

Substratum Type - sediment vs. rock
Substratum Motion - constant vs. static
Substratum Origin/Age - ephemeral vs. relative permanence

Front 12

Biotic Levels of Organization Hierarchial - levels of interaction with the environment

Back 12

Individual
Populations
(Species)
Communities
Ecosystems
Biosphere

Front 13

Populations

Back 13

all of one species in an area defined by a common gene pool

Front 14

Species

Back 14

all populations of individuals that can potentially produce fertile offspring

Front 15

Communities

Back 15

populations of species in a given area - named for iconic dominant plats (i.e. sea grass beds house more than just sea grass)

Front 16

Deme

Back 16

A local population of organisms of the same kind, especially one in which the genetix mix is similar throughout the group
- even chance of mating to take place between individuals

Front 17

Ecosystem

Back 17

many communities, larger scale

Front 18

Biosphere

Back 18

all organisms living in the thin layer of crust and atmosphere of the Earth

Front 19

Ecological Niche

Back 19

abstract; how organisms relate to environment

Front 20

Habitat

Back 20

physical place where an organism lives

Front 21

Fundamental vs. Realized Niche

Back 21

Sdlfjaoeifjasdf

Front 22

Density - dependent

Back 22

Anything that changes in the way of an organism's reproductive capacity
Ex: disease could be spread easier, competition over food and mates, predation

Front 23

Density - independent

Back 23

Change in tolerance

Front 24

What does it take to complete an Ecosystem?

Back 24

Source of energy
Primary producers
Consumers
Nutrient cycles

Front 25

Basic ecosystems in marine environment

Back 25

Estuary
Continental Shelf (up to 150 miles offshore)
Open Ocean ( >150 miles offshore)

Front 26

Ecosystem Concept - Attributes to a self-sustaining ecosystem

Back 26

Source of energy
Primary producers
Consumers
Nutrient cycles

Front 27

Marine Zonation

Back 27

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

Front 28

Benthic Zone

Back 28

Littoral
Continental Shelf
Continental Slope
Abyssal Plain
Hadal

Front 29

Benthic-Pelagic Coupling

Back 29

interactions through material and energy

Front 30

Pelagic Zone

Back 30

Neretic - nearshore, usual very productive coastal zone
Oceanic - offshore, relatively non-productive
Epipelagic - top 150m - photic zone above c. shelf
Mesopelagic - 150-1000m - aphotic, above shelf &slope
Bathypelagic - 1000-4000m - aphotic, above l.c. slope
Abyssal pelagic - 4000-6000m -aphotic, above a. plain

Front 31

Littoral Zone

Back 31

Supratidal - above high tide, rarely affected by salt spray
Intertidal - between high and low tide lines
Subtidal - below low tide line, always submerged

Front 32

Salinity Zonation (Venice System)

Back 32

Oligohaline - 0.5-5ppt (mostly freshwater)
Mesohaline - 5-18ppt (brackish)
Polyhaline - 18-30ppt (brackish)
Euhaline - 30-40ppt (saltwater)

Front 33

Halocline

Back 33

region of rapid change in salinity (c.f. thermocline, pycnocline)

Front 34

Eury

Back 34

refers to organisms that are able to tolerate large changes in conditions, adapted to less stable environment (euryhaline, eurythermal) - more estuarine

Front 35

Steno

Back 35

refers to organisms that are unable to tolerate large changes in conditions, adapted to constant environment (stenohaline, stenothermal) - more oceanic

Front 36

Primary Producers

Back 36

Phytoplankton
Benthic algae (microphytobenthos)
Macroalgae
Symbiotic producers (i.e. coral)
Angiosperms (emergent and submergent)