Marine Science (5.1-5.3)

List the five types of marine plants

1. Brown Algae 2. Red Algae 3. Green Algae 4. Seagrasses 5. Mangroves

List the four types of phytoplankton.

1. Diatoms 2. Dinoflagellates 3. Coccolithophores 4. Photosynthetic Picoplankton

Compare and contrast food webs and food chains.

A food chain is a linear model that shows a single set of feeding relationships in an ecosystem. A food web is a model showing many different feeding relationships and the interrelationships among species in an ecosystem.

Define a 4-level trophic pyramid. Describe each level and include an example organism for each level.

At the base are Primary Producers (autotrophic organisms - Phytoplankton), next are Primary Consumers (Heterotrophic, basic consumers - Zooplankton), then Secondary Consumers (intermediate consumers - small fish), then Tertiary Consumers (apex predators - sharks)

Autotrophs

Autotrophs are organisms that feed themselves by converting the energy from sunlight and inorganic compounds into carbohydrates. Plants are Autotrophs

Cyanobacteria

Bacteria that photosynthesize. These are the most common bacteria in the ocean.

Describe two species of each type of zooplankton

Blue Sea Slug, Heteropods, Polychaete Worms, Foraminifera and Copepods (Holoplankton). Sea urchins, starfish, sea squirts, crabs, lobsters, octopus, marine worms and most fish (Meroplankton).

Brown Algae

Brown algae are closely related to diatoms, but are multicellular and structurally complex. • Range in size, with some individuals being gigantic. • Have adapted to a variety of habitats. • Found in tide pools and deep, near-shore waters. • Most often found cold water with lots of nutrients. • Kelp is the largest of the brown algae.

Coccolithophores

Coccolithophores are a type of single-celled photosynthetic phytoplankton characterized by shells made of extremely tiny plates of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). • Tiny plates that make up shell are used for protection and are called coccoliths. • A leading calcium carbonate producer in the ocean. • Areas with high coccolithophore concentrations may appear milky or chalky.

Carnivores

Consumers that consume animal matter

Herbivores

Consumers that consume plant matter

Detritovores

Detritovores eat dead matter. They are not always visible in an ecosystem all the time, but they are extremely important.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)

Diatoms and dinoflagellates can cause of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Harmful algal blooms occur when colonies of algae grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds.

Trophic Levels

Each level of the pyramid is called a trophic level. Tropic levels describe the hierarchy of organisms in an ecosystem and correspond to the position of the organism in a food chain.

Emergent

Emergent plants live with their roots underwater, but with a significant portion of the plant growing above the surface - mangroves for example.

(Terms - 5.1) 1st Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed; the total energy in the universe remains constant. Energy cannot be lost or used up; it is simply changed from one form to another.

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Every time energy is transformed, some energy becomes heat, and unusable. Because usable energy is transformed into unusable energy in each exchange, there are usually only a 3-4 trophic levels in an ecosystem.

Green Algae

Green algae have two different types of chlorophyll pigments, both a and b, which give them a bright green color. • Scientists believe that land plants evolved from green algae. • Approximately 7,000 species.

Primary Consumers

Heterotrophs (consumers) that are feeding on primary producers. They are herbivores! Example organisms: Zooplankton are marine planktonic animals that eat phytoplankton.

Heterotrophs

Heterotrophs are organisms that consume other organisms to receive nutrients.

List and describe the two types of zooplankton.

Holoplankton spend their entire life cycle as plankton • Example - Krill Meroplankton spend only a part of their life cycle drifting as plankton. • As they mature they become nekton (organisms that swim freely against the current) or benthos (organisms that live on or in the seabed). • Examples - fish and crab larvae

Larvae

Larva is a distinct juvenile form that many animals undergo before becoming adults.

Mangroves

Mangroves are shrubs or small trees that grow in coastal saline or brackish water. • They act as nurseries for marine ecosystems. • They filter runoff water protecting sensitive offshore ecosystems. • They hold sediments in place and reduce erosion.

Where do zooplankton live in the ocean? Why?

May vertically migrate (to a depth of 200m) during the day for protection but resurface at night to feed.

Omnivores

Omnivores are animals that eat both animals and plants. Organisms in this category have flexibility in terms of what they eat. Most human beings are omnivores.

Mixatrophic

Organisms that can photosynthesize and consume prey.

Chemosynthesizers

Organisms turn carbon-containing molecules (usually CO2 & CH4) into organic matter (to use source of food), rather than using sunlight.

Describe photosynthesis. What organisms do it? What happens during the process? What is created by the process?

Photosynthesis is the process of using light energy to create carbohydrates (food) from inorganic compounds. Plants gain energy from the sun and use it to grow. Photosynthesis Process: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy C6H12O6 + 6 O2

What are phytoplankton?Where do they live in the ocean? Why?

Phytoplankton a Plant plankton • Primary producers (autotrophs) • Photosynthesizers • Single cells or chains of cells • Includes the smallest plankton - picoplankton (0.2 -2 microns). • Live near the surface so they can undergo photosynthesis.

Picoplankton

Picoplankton are extremely tiny microscopic plankton between 0.2 and 2 micrometers (μm). • They can be autotrophic OR heterotrophic. This means some picoplankton are phytoplankton, but not all.

Primary Producers

Primary producers make up the pyramid base. In the ocean, these organisms are primarily phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are marine organisms (microscopic or near-microscopic) that photosynthesize.

(Terms - 5.2) Primary Productivity

Primary productivity is the rate at which autotrophs (photosynthesizers and chemosynthesizers) convert energy into organic substances (food, carbohydrates, sugar, glucose).

Red Algae

Red algae are multicellular marine plants that contain a red pigment called phycoerythrins. • Live on coral reefs and secrete a calcium carbonate (CaCO3) shell. • The secretions bond coral colonies and debris together which holds the reef together.

Secondary Consumers

Secondary consumers eat primary consumers (and possibly some primary producers. These are carnivores and omnivores. Example organisms: Small fish

Submergent

Submergent plants live entirely underwater - seagrasses for example.

Tertiary Consumers

Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers. These are carnivores, often apex predators. Example organisms: Sharks

Bioluminescence

The biochemical emission of light by a living organism often caused by the light-emitting pigment luciferin and the enzyme luciferase.

Biomass

The dry weight of all living materials on Earth. Biomass can be used to trace the flow of energy in an ecosystem. Each level in the pyramid has significantly less biomass than the level below because energy is lost to entropy as it's used in life processes at each level. • Only about ten percent of the energy transfers from one level to the next, so that each level is only about a tenth the size of the level below. • At each level, 90 percent of the energy is lost.

(Concept Questions - 5.1) What is the largest source of energy? How does that energy get used?

The largest source of energy is the sun. Plants gain energy from the sun and use it to grow. When animals eat plants, some of that energy is transferred.

Coccoliths

Tiny plates that make up shell are used for protection and are called coccoliths.

Trophic Pyramid

Trophic pyramids are visual representations of how energy moves in an ecosystem from one level of organisms to the next as they consume each other.

(Concept Questions - 5.3) Where do zooplankton fit into the trophic pyramid? Discuss their food source and what organisms they might be a food source for. (Note - THINK about this question and what you have already learned about trophic pyramids)

Zooplankton are both Primary Consumers (they consume Phytoplankton) and Secondary Consumers (some consume other Zooplankton).

(Terms - 5.3) Zooplankton

Zooplankton à Animal plankton (heterotrophs) • Primary consumers (often called grazers, eat primary producers, phytoplankton) • Secondary consumers (predators that eat other types of zooplankton)

Dinoflagellates

• Dinoflagellates are a type of single-celled phytoplankton characterized by one or two whip-like flagella, which they move to change orientation or to swim vertically in the water. • Second most abundant and productive phytoplankton, after diatoms. • Many are mixatrophic, meaning that they can photosynthesize and consume prey. • Some species exhibit bioluminescence.

Seagrasses

• Seagrasses are flowering plants which grow in marine, fully saline environments. • They provide important habitats for other marine organisms.

(Concept Questions - 5.2) What are plankton? Give two example organisms that fit this definition.

• The word plankton comes from the Greek word planktos, which means 'wandering' or 'drifting'. • The word plankton is plural, so we say "Plankton are organisms that live in the sea." • The singular form is plankter. Plankton are organisms that: • Drift or swim weakly in the ocean. • They CANNOT swim AGAINST currents, tides, or other water motion. • Plankton are not a species, but include many species from many groups of organisms found in the sea. • They are defined by their behavior, not what type of organisms they are. Most plankton are microscopic, but some are visible to the naked eye. Few will actually grow several meters long! Examples: Lion's Maine Jellyfish, Mola Mola (Ocean Sunfish)

Diatoms

•Diatoms are photosynthetic phytoplankton that are characterized as single-celled organisms with rigid cell wall made of silica (glass). • Most abundant type of phytoplankton, includes thousands of known species. • Most productive type of phytoplankton. • Most efficient photosynthesizers known, capable of converting more than half the light energy they absorb into sugar.