oceans - unit 2
How does pollution impact coral reefs?
Pollution can cause disease and mortality in sensitive species, Pollution can impede coral growth and reproduction, Pollution can disrupt overall ecological function
The concentration of carbon dioxide in surface water is low, whereas the concentration of oxygen is high because of the
photosynthesis process
Oxygen concentration in a water column varies with depth. What causes oxygen concentration to increase at deep depths (below 1,000 m)?
pressure and temperature
True or False? Coral reefs provide so many fundamentally important purposes and are intimately linked to human health.
true
True or False? Corals polyps are animals
true
True or False? Different species of coral are responding differently to environmental stressors and changing ocean conditions.
true
True or False? NOAA partners with other research and community groups to protect and restore corals.
true
True or False? Natural threats to coral reefs are often more severe because of changing ocean conditions due to anthropogenic actions
true
True or False? Seawater has a pH (~8.2) that is slightly basic.
true
True or False? The only way to stop ocean acidification is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.
true
True or False? When carbon dioxide mixes with ocean water, an acid is formed.
true
What was the Washington shellfisheries impact to the state economy last year?
$270,000,000
Increased CO2 in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution has resulted in lower surface ocean pH of about ________ pH units.
0.1
"Corrosive" low pH waters of the Washington coast are expanding at what annual rate?
1-2 m/year
Controlled fish farming supplies approximately how much of all fish and shellfish directly consumed by humans?
50%
The difference between a pH of 3 and a pH of 2 is a difference in how many H+ ions?
10 x's more H+
What is the residence time of carbon, or the average amount of time one carbon atom resides in a reservoir, in the deep ocean?
100,000 years
What percentage of animal protein intake by the global population comes from fisheries?
20%
Coral reefs occupy only 1% of the ocean, but are home to what percentage of all marine species?
25%
The concentration of free H+ in seawater has increased by about how much?
25%
Approximately how much of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has dissolved into the ocean?
25-30%
Approximately what percentage of coral in the Great Barrier Reef has died in the last 2 years?
30-50%
The optimum temperature for most coral reefs is 23-25 C with few reefs existing in waters above _________________
30oC
By 2030, it's predicted that over ________ of the world's coral reefs may be destroyed by anthropogenic causes such as ocean acidification, rising temperatures, overfishing, pollution, sewage outflows, and poaching coral species for exotic pet market
50%
Washington state shellfisheries production has declined by how much since 2005?
80%
According to the video, how much carbon dioxide mixes into the surface ocean each day?
Approximately 22 millions tons
What percentage of organisms that live in the sea depend on coral reefs?
Approximately 25%
How many people are directly affected by the presence of reefs?
Approximately 500 million
In general, oceans at __________ latitudes are a sink for atmospheric CO2.
high
Oysters, mussels and clams use ______________ to make their shells
Calcium carbonate
When CO2 dissolves in water, it reacts with water to form different carbon species. Which of these species is very reactive and readily dissociates?
Carbonic acid (H2CO3)
Coca-Cola is more acidic than baking soda. Which one has a lower pH?
Coca-Cola
Which organisms are considered to be the most vulnerable to ocean acidification?
Coccolithophorids, Pteropods, Bivalves, Coral reefs
All of the following are carbon reservoirs in the Earth's carbon cycle except
Comets and asteroids
Which is not true about corals?
Coral reefs can colonize and develop over relatively short (5 - 10 years) time periods
Why are coral reefs so important?
Corals provide food and nutrients essential to the marine food web, Reefs attract tourists and support the economies of islands and countries with coral reefs, Reefs protect coastlines from the damaging effects of wave action and tropical storms, Reefs provide habitat and shelter for many marine organisms.
Washington shellfisheries are responding to the declining pH of the upwelled coastal waters. Please identify strategies being used by the shellfisheries to combat the impact of ocean acidification
Culture larvae during times of no upwelling, Only pump water into hatcheries when CO2 low, Research and development of resistant oyster strains
Which of the following are considered anthropogenic threats to coral reefs?
Cyanine or blast 'fishing' for aquarium trade, Pollution from land or boats, Trawling and other damaging fishing techniques
How does decaying organic matter in the ocean impact pH?
Decreases pH
The region of the water column where there is sufficient sunlight to carry out photosynthesis is called?
Euphotic zone
A Congressional act passed in 2009 which authorizes federal research funding of ocean acidification through NOAA, NASA, and NSF goes by which acronym?
FOARAM
True or false: Sunlight usually penetrates to a greater depth in coastal waters than in the open ocean.
False
Jeff Orlowski is the director of Chasing Coral. Which of the following statements best describes why he made the film?
He wanted to document and share photographic evidence of change in coral reef ecosystems to raise awareness about the threats to and state of coral reefs
Why do shellfish have more difficulty building shells at lower ocean pH?
Lowering pH decreases the concentration of carbonate.
Which of the following are ways that YOU can help preserve and protect coral reefs?
Make sustainable seafood choice, Reduce, reuse, recycle, Be a responsible aquarium owner. Know where your fish come from, Drive less, Don't dump household chemicals into street gutters or storm drains.
What is the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program doing to help protect corals against global climate change, pollution and over-fishing?
NOAA works to establish protected areas, NOAA works with communities and fishers to make sure fisheries on reefs are sustainable, NOAA monitors coral reefs and reports on the health and damage of the coral ecosystems, NOAA works with scientists to grow and transplant corals, NOAA works with communities to reduce sources of pollution to reefs, NOAA helps educate people on the importance of and threats to coral reef ecosystems
Which of the following statements about NRDC are correct?
NRDC is an international environmental advocacy group, NRDC stands for Natural Resources Defense Council.
In general, carbon dioxide outgases from the ocean into the atmosphere
Near the equator
Where will light attenuate more rapidly?
Nutrient rich coastal temperate waters
Why is there a decrease in nutrients (like N and P) in surface waters?
Nutrients are being used by phytoplankton at the surface.
Why is old, cold deep seawater that is upwelled relatively more corrosive?
Old water has had more organic matter accumulate and decay, Cold water holds more carbon dioxide than warmer water, Old deep water does not have a photosynthetically active community
Which of the following are considered an essential nutrient for photosynthesis or phytoplankton growth?
Phosphorus (P), Nitrogen (N), Silicon (Si), Iron (Fe)
Washington shellfisheries are responding to the declining pH of the upwelled coastal waters. Please identify which is NOT a strategy being used by the shellfisheries to combat the impact of ocean acidification
Pressurized degassing of CO2 from seawater intake lines
Scientists predict that the majority of coral reefs will be dead by 2050 if the drivers of climate change are not addressed. What is the most important thing that you can do to help coral reefs recover?
Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases immediately
what is true about corals?
Reef-building corals occur in relatively shallow (<50 m) water, Most reef-building corals are found in the zone extending from 30° N to 30° S of the equator, Corals are affected by changes in ocean temperature, Corals cover approximately 1% of the ocean's surface area
Which of the following are currently being used to restore coral reefs?
Research to engineer super corals to grow and transplant on reef, Reattaching coral fragments using cement or epoxy putty, Growing corals in nurseries and 'planting' them out on reefs, transplanting coral fragments to protected reefs
Which of the following actions could and should be taken to protect and preserve coral reefs?
Stop boaters from anchoring their boats on the reefs, Establish protected areas from fishing and collecting, Reduce nutrient pollution to coastal waters where reefs live, Reduce emissions of carbon dioxide
Which of the following statements best describes what 'super corals' are?
Super corals have a mechanism that allows them to be more tolerant to high temperatures.
How many coral fragments have been transplanted over the last decade by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program?
Tens of thousands
True or False? Coral reefs are sensitive to ocean acidity and some reefs may disappear within 20 to 30 years.
true
Which of the following statements about fishing on coral reefs is incorrect?
The abundance of key reef fish species has increased in response to rapid human population growth, increased demand, use of more efficient fishery technologies, and inadequate management and enforcement.
By how much has the acidity of the ocean changed since the Industrial Revolution?
The acidity has increased by approximately 30%.
Carbon dioxide in ocean water comes from
The atmosphere and respiration
All of these are ways people are trying to protect coral reefs
Underwater museums to entertain tourists, Coral Reef Task Force (CRTF), Coral Reef Conservation Act & Marine Protected Areas, Transplanting corals from "nurseries" out into the environment, Utilizing electrically charged cages
Which of the following is not true about upwelling waters?
Upwelling occurs when deep water decreases in salinity and rises to the surface.
Which of the following statements about a coral bleaching event are correct?
Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching, Corals can die if environmental stress is prolonged, When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, When the coral animal is under environmental stress, it will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white
Why do oyster farms along the east coast of the U.S. do not have the same problems with low pH water as west coast oyster farms?
Waters upwelled in the N. Pacific have lower pH than waters upwelled in the N. Atlantic.
What three things dictate the outcome of a stress event in coral reef ecosystems?
Who they partner with -- are they with the right type of microalgae?, Who their parents were -- their base genetics, What their environmental history has been.
During which season is the mixed layer usually the deepest?
Winter
Ocean acidification as a result of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes
a reduction in pH levels which decrease coral growth and structural integrity.
Which of these is NOT an impact ocean acidification has on marine organisms?
ability to respire
MAAD: As the temperature increases leading into the summer a dog will shed its heavy winter fur
acclimate
Sound travels farther in what pH water?
acidic
Fill in the blanks: A pH of 4 is more ___________ than a pH of 5 which is more ___________.
acidic; basic
MAAD: Polar bears have been hybridizing at greater rates with grizzly bears resulting in pizzly bears that might be able to create a new species which can inhabit a different ecological niche
adapt
Which of the following is NOT considered an essential nutrient for photosynthesis or phytoplankton growth?
aluminum (AI)
Corals are made up of colonies of what type of organism?
animals
What percentage of the planet is covered with ocean?
approximately 70%
The farming of marine organisms including fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic plants is known as ________________
aquaculture
What are the sources of oxygen in the ocean?
atmospheric mixing, photosynthesis
It can take 10,000 - 30 million years for a coral reef to form from a group of larvae. Which of the following are characteristics macrostructure formed by coral reefs
barrier, atoll, fringing
Which carbonate species do calcifying organisms rely on to build their shells?
carbonate
It can take 10,000 - 30 million years for a coral reef to form from a group of larvae. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic macrostructure formed by coral reefs
chains
The global ocean is not uniformly a source or sink for atmospheric CO2, but rather different regions of the ocean vary in whether they act as a local source or sink. What ocean regions are considered to be sources of CO2 to the atmosphere? Select all that apply:
coastal upwelling zone, equatorial regions
Which water condition would gases be most soluble in?
cold and fresh
Which water mass would be found deepest in the water column
cold and salty
The depth of light penetration in the ocean depends on the
concentration of phytoplankton in surface waters, amount of suspended sediment in the water column, concentration of dissolved organic material in the water column
MAAD: dinosaurs
death
When CO2 is dissolved into the ocean, the concentration of carbonate(CO3-2) ________________ and the concentration of bicarbonate (HCO3-)_________________.
decreases; increases
decreasing sea surface pH
decreasing coral growth rates
A change of one unit on the pH scale means the concentration of hydrogen ions changed by a
factor of 10
TRUE or FALSE: An individual organism can adapt to climate change.
false
TRUE or FALSE: Killer whale communities that consume salmon are not likely to be impacted by Ocean Acidification.
false
TRUE or FALSE: Only fisheries of shell-forming organisms like clams, mussels, and oysters are projected to be impacted by Ocean Acidification.
false
TRUE or FALSE: Urban economies in Washington state are at greater risk from reduced shellfishery production.
false
True or False: The pycnocline of the oceans is usually found at depths exceeding 2000 m.
false
True or False? Coral bleaching is only occurring in the Great Barrier Reef.
false
True or False? Coral reefs are not an important resource in the ocean since organism diversity there is very low.
false
True or False? Corals can never recover from a bleaching event
false
True or False? Dissolved nutrient and gas concentrations are constant at all depths in the ocean.
false
True or False? If seawater density decreases with depth, the water column is stratified.
false
True or False? It's too late to save most coral reef ecosystems and no actions should be taken to protect the remaining systems.
false
True or False? Only the smallest organisms are impacted by ocean acidification.
false
True or False? Surface water can hold more gas than deep water because it is under high atmospheric pressure
false
People depend on coral reefs for
food, protection of shoreline, tourism based economies, medicines
Which of the following things are NOT dissolved in seawater?
ice
sea level rise
increase in sedimentation that can smother corals
Which of the following is not a likely impact of ocean acidification?
increased severity of coral bleaching event due to increase in ocean salinity
changes in precipitation
increasing runoff from land that can result in murky water conditions and reduce light penetration
Changes in ocean temperature and salinity caused by climate change could lead to changes in ocean currents. Altered ocean currents could lead to changes in connectivity and temperature regimes that contribute to:
lack of food for corals, changes in dispersal of coral larvae
Which of the following are carbon reservoirs in the Earth's carbon cycle
land vegetation, marine biota, sediments and soils, deep ocean
MAAD: Cod and haddock in the North Sea have shifted towards the cooler Arctic waters
move
Which of the following environmental factors may have contributed to the decline in coral growth rates in the Great Barrier Reef?
pH, water quality, nutrients, temperature
Which of the organisms below will be most directly affected by ocean acidification?
pteropods
The _________ is the region of the water column where density increases rapidly with water depth.
pycnocline
The halocline is a region of what rapidly changing property of seawater?
salinity
Which of the following things are dissolved in seawater?
salts, organics, metals, gases
Which of the following are considered sources of land-based pollution?
stormwater runoff, coastal development, agriculture runoff, oil and chemical release or spills, deforestation
Layering of water masses is known as ___________?
stratification
changes in storm patterns
strong storms can damage corals
Shallow water corals rely on a _____________ with photosynthetic algae called ______________ to provide an alternative source of nutrition to support the growth of enormous reef structures
symbiosis; zooxanthellae
Which of the following does not increase the chance that an organism will be able to adapt to environmental changes?
symbiotic relationship with another organism
What are zooxanthellae?
symbiotic unicellular algae that live within the cells of coral gastrodermis
The thermocline is a rapid change in __________ with water depth in the ocean
temperature
If extremely cold fresh water is added on top of seawater, ________
the cold water will float at the surface
Which of the following are potential actions that could help the ocean "defend" itself against rising acidity and temperatures?
the establishment of Marine protection Areas, practicing sustainable fishing practices, reducing nutrient pollution in coastal areas
increasing sea surface temp
thermal stress that contributes to coral bleaching
Which of the following are considered a natural threat to coral reefs?
tidal emersion, disease, predation, waves from large storms, weather patterns like el Nino
Native indigenous peoples to Washington used shellfish for
tools, food, jewelry, trading goods with other tribes
Recreational harvesting of shellfish in Washington is a popular activity. TRUE or FALSE: you must obtain a license in order to recreationally fish/shellfish in Washington state
true
TRUE or FALSE: Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems in the ocean
true
True or False: Respiration uses carbon dioxide and produces oxygen and energy
true
True or False? Coral farmers select and grow resilient corals in labs or protected nurseries and transplant them out on coral reefs
true
The best environmental conditions for shallow coral reefs are
warm water, shallow water, clear water, salty water
Select the communities and industrial regions which are most likely to be impacted by ocean acidification:
wild-catch fisheries, tourism, shellfisheries, western Washington native tribes
