Aice Marine - Class Review Study Cards 36-70
Mutualistic relationships in the hydrothermal vents
At hydrothermal vents, chemosynthetic bacteria live inside of animals in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship where the animals support the existence of the bacteria and the bacteria provide food to the animals in an environment where light does not penetrate.
Photosynthetic organisms and energy of the food chain
Autotrophs are the producers in the food chain, meaning they create their own nutrients and energy. Kelp, like most autotrophs, creates energy through a process called photosynthesis. An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.
Carbon dating as a technique to understand the history and growth of coral reefs
Carbon dating is used to find the age of the coral. carbon is deposited in their skeleton as caco3. deep drilling provides material to identify corals and estimate growth rate.
List benefits of coral reefs
Coral reefs protect coastlines from storms and erosion, provide jobs for local communities, and offer opportunities for recreation. They are also are a source of food and new medicines. Over half a billion people depend on reefs for food, income, and protection.
What are the conditions needed for coral growth?
Corals need to grow in shallow water where sunlight can reach them. Corals depend on the zooxanthellae (algae) that grow inside of them for oxygen and other things, and since these algae needs sunlight to survive, corals also need sunlight to survive.
Deep drilling as a technique to understand the history and growth or coral reefs
Deep drilling provides material to identify corals and estimate growth rate. carbon dating is used to find the age of the coral. The age of a coral is determined by the proportion of 14c to 12c.
Chemosynthesis including hydrogen sulfide
During chemosynthesis, bacteria living on the sea floor or within animals use energy stored in the chemical bonds of hydrogen sulfide and methane to make glucose from water and carbon dioxide (dissolved in sea water). Pure sulfur and sulfur compounds are produced as by-products.
Primary producers and nutrients
During photosynthesis, primary producers take energy from the sun and produce it into energy, sugar, and oxygen. Primary producers also need energy to convert this same energy elsewhere, so they get it from nutrients. One type of nutrient is nitrogen.
Describe and draw the three types of reefs.
Fringing reefs grow near the coastline around islands and continents. They are separated from the shore by narrow, shallow lagoons. Fringing reefs are the most common type of reef that we see. Barrier reefs also parallel the coastline but are separated by deeper, wider lagoons. At their shallowest point, they can reach the water's surface forming a "barrier" to navigation. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest and most famous barrier reef in the world. Atolls are rings of coral that create protected lagoons and are usually located in the middle of the sea. Atolls usually form when islands surrounded by fringing reefs sink into the sea or the sea level rises around them (these islands are often the tops of underwater volcanoes). The fringing reefs continue to grow and eventually form circles with lagoons inside.
Factors that lead to reef erosion and examples of each
Increased ocean temperatures and changing ocean chemistry are the greatest global threats to coral reef ecosystems. This warming causes corals to lose the microscopic algae that produce food that corals need, placing stress on the corals.
productivity and the amount of dissolved nutrients
Inorganic nutrients, such as nitrate ions and phosphate ions are essential for the growth of primary producers. Since consumers depend on these primary producers for food, either directly on indirectly in food chains, the productivity of the primary producers will influence the productivity of higher trophic levels.
Why is only a small percentage of the sun's energy captured for photosynthesis?
Most solar energy occurs at wavelengths unsuitable for photosynthesis. Between 98 and 99 percent of solar energy reaching Earth is reflected from leaves and other surfaces and absorbed by other molecules, which convert it to heat. Thus, only 1 to 2 percent is available to be captured by plants.
Dissolving atmospheric gasses as a process to replenish nutrients
Nutrients in the ocean are cycled by a process known as biological pumping, whereby plankton extract the nutrients out of the surface water and combine them in their organic matrix. Then when the plants die, sink and decay, the nutrients are returned to their dissolved state at deeper levels of the ocean.
What are the four stages of atoll formation?
Oceanic volcano forms and emerges from the sea surface- forms an island and becomes colonized by reef-building corals. Forms a fringing barrier reef around the island, island begins to sink Island continues to sink, a barrier reef is formed with a lagoon between the reef and island. The island disappears beneath the sea surface and leaves an atoll (can take 30 million years)
Productivity and measuring productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of production output to what is required to produce it (inputs). The measure of productivity is defined as a total output per one unit of a total input."
Evidence of sea level changes on coral reefs
Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of seawater as it warms. The first graph tracks the change in sea level since 1993 as observed by satellites.
Percent energy available at each trophic level and what happens to the other 90% of energy not transferred to the next trophic level?
The amount of energy at each trophic level decreases as it moves through an ecosystem. As little as 10 percent of the energy at any trophic level is transferred to the next level; the rest is lost largely through metabolic processes as heat.
Artificial reef disadvantages
The material might become toxic. Many materials including rubber and metal will degrade or corrode releasing toxins into the water. Tires didn't make great artificial reefs. Overfishing instead of increasing biomass. The artificial reefs might be different to natural ones.
biological use of magnesium
To make chlorophyll
Upwelling as a process to replenish dissolved nutrients
When the wind blows parallel to a coastline, surface waters are pushed offshore and water is drawn from below to replace the water that has been pushed away. The upward movement of this deep, colder water is called upwelling. The deeper water that rises to the surface during upwelling is rich in nutrients.
How do you calculate the efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels?
divide the amount from the higher trophic level by the amount from the lower trophic level and multiply by one hundred. That is, we divide the smaller number by the bigger one (and multiply by one hundred).
Artificial reef advantages
improve hydrodynamics for surfing. reduce coastal erosion. create jobs for people who depend on tourism for a living. support the formation of new marine habitats underwater.
Runoff as a process to replenish dissolved nutrients
runoff from the land brings nutrients into the water from feces and fertilizers and mineral ions from rocks.
What evidence supports the Darwin-Dana-Daly theory of atoll formation?
the island disappears below the sea surface, leaving an atoll consisting of a ring of small islands with a relatively shallow lagoon in the center. Evidence supporting this theory includes data from deep drilling on coral atolls, for example Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
Geomorphology
the study of the characteristics, origin, and development of landforms
Biological use of calcium
to make bones, shells, coral, and carbonates/corallites
biological use of carbon
to make glucose, dna, rna
biological use of nitrogen
to make proteins and amino acids
Biological use of phosphorus
used for dna, bones, atp, phospholipids, calcium phosphate
