Final

Question 1

Nutrient cycle is thought to be limited in marine ecosystems compared to terrestrial ecosystems?

Answer 1

Nitrogen-nutrient

Question 2

Nutrient cycle is the basis for most of the biomass in all ecosystems?

Answer 2

Carbon-nutrient

Question 3

How does the flow of energy through the food web affect an ecosystem ?

Answer 3

Determining how much energy is available for organisms at higher tropic levels

Question 4

Niche

Answer 4

Organism’s role in its habitat

Question 5

Microhabitat

Answer 5

Exists on a very small scale

Question 6

Habitat

Answer 6

The area and conditions in which you find an organism

Question 7

Population

Answer 7

Group of the same species living and interacting in a community

Question 8

Community

Answer 8

Collection of different organisms living and interacting in an ecosystem

Question 9

Ecosystem

Answer 9

Physical boundaries, energy source, and a community of interacting organisms through which energy is transferred

Question 10

Ecology

Answer 10

Science that studies how organisms relate to each other and their environment

Question 11

Compensation depth

Answer 11

Depth at which the oxygen produced by autotrophs = the oxygen they need for respiration

Question 12

How does light availability affect primary productivity?

Answer 12

Light diminishes with depth, so depth also affects photosynthesis and primary productivity

Question 13

Limiting factor

Answer 13

Physiological or biological necessities that affect survival

Question 14

Silicoflagellate

Answer 14

Silica internal supporting structure

Question 15

Coccilithophore

Answer 15

Calcium carbonate shell

Question 16

Most primary production in the sea is from

Answer 16

Phytoplankton

Question 17

What is plankton?

Answer 17

Wide variety of organisms that share habitat and lifestyle

Question 18

Difference between zooplankton and phytoplankton

Answer 18

Phytoplankton -plants

Zooplankton- animals

Question 19

Biomass

Answer 19

Mass of living tissue

Question 20

Standing crop

Answer 20

Mass of living tissue at a given time in an ecosystem

Question 21

Main “product” of primary production and how is it measured ?

Answer 21

Carbohydrates; grams of carbon per square meter of surface area per year

Question 22

What two deep-sea ecosystems have primary productivity associated with chemicals emerging from the earth?

Answer 22

Hydrothermal vents

Cold seeps

Question 23

Stages whale-fall ecosystems go through

Answer 23

1st: scavengers arrive and consume wales soft tissue in a few months
2nd: last about a year eat remaining soft tissue and detritus
3rd: lasts several years or decades and it’s the decay of the whale skeleton

Question 24

Whale fall

Answer 24

Please where a dead whale comes to rest on the deep ocean floor

Question 25

What types of organisms are found most commonly in the abyssal zone?

Answer 25

Echinoderms Meiofauna

Question 26

What provides nutrients for most of the deep ocean?

Answer 26

Marine snow | Constant fall of sediment, dead organisms, fecal pellets, and other nutrients from the productive shallow water above

Question 27

Why is there no primary productivity and most of the deep ocean?

Answer 27

No sunlight

Question 28

What is the northern limit of the Antarctic's productive seas?

Answer 28

Antarctic Convergence 50-60 degrees south latitude

Question 29

What makes the Antarctic seas some of the most productive marine ecosystems?

Answer 29

Rich, deep water surfaces to create the largest nutrient-rich area on earth

Question 30

Where and when do you find the most productivity in the Arctic?

Answer 30

Extremely high productivity occurs along an arc in the North Pacific and across the north Atlantic from April to August

Question 31

What conditions challenge marine ecosystems in the arctic?

Answer 31

Reduced sunlight under the ice and water that's barely above freezing

Question 32

Threats coral ecosystems face

Answer 32

Sedimentation Coral diseases Thermal stress (global warming)

Question 33

Why do coral ecosystems require water that is in moderate motion and free of nutrients?

Answer 33

Prevents sentiments from accumulating on polyps Can't photosynthesize Motion

Question 34

What marine ecosystem is thought by most scientists to be the most taxonomically diverse?

Answer 34

Coral reefs (diverse but fragile)

Question 35

How has human hunting of sea otters disrupted the ecological balance of kelp forest ecosystems?

Answer 35

Killing sea otters=more sea urchins=more kelp eaten

Question 36

How do beaches affect other marine ecosystems?

Answer 36

Works as a giant filter Caused by coastal erosion

Question 37

Conditions that challenge organisms in littoral ecosystems

Answer 37

Drying out Thermal stress Water motion Competition (Between high and low tide)

Question 38

Greatest challenges to life in supralittoral ecosystems

Answer 38

Drying out Thermal stress Water motion (Only submerged during highest tide)

Question 39

How do seagrass ecosystems differ from other halophyte based ecosystems?

Answer 39

Don't have freshwater source Can exist in deep water Edible food to inhabitants

Question 40

How do seagrasses differ from other halophytes?

Answer 40

Reproduce by releasing pollen Live entirely underwater No means of extracting fresh from seawater No freshwater source (internal salinity)

Question 41

Adaptations that allow halophytes to survive in salt water

Answer 41

Lower: Salt glands Pores in the leaves Upper: sacrificial leaves

Question 42

How do Upper and lower marsh conditions differ?

Answer 42

Upper: rarely flooded by tides Lower: flooded by salt water and a regular part of the tidal cycle

Question 43

Estuaries contribute to the productivity of surrounding marine ecosystems by

Answer 43

Juveniles Shelter Nutrients while trapping sediment

Question 44

What factors limit the productivity of estuary ecosystems?

Answer 44

Wide salinity ranges Osmotic stress Variations in salinity tend to reduce species

Question 45

Eutrophication

Answer 45

Overabundance of nutrients that causes an ecological imbalance

Question 46

Why do you human activities have wide ranging potential effects on coastal ecosystems?

Answer 46

Living near water Activities that aren't obvious (fertilizer/pollutants)

Question 47

Why are coastal ecosystems generally highly productive?

Answer 47

Benefit from nutrient-rich run off from land Shelter (diverse and rich)