Marine Science Unit 1 Review PDF

Unit 1 Notes Ecology: Scientific study of interactions among and between organisms and their environment (surroundings). Energy Flow: Main Energy Source for life on Earth: Autotrophs harness Energy via photosynthesis. Producers trap less than 2% of the sun's energy. Trophic Levels: Each step in a...

Unit 1 Notes Ecology: Scientific study of interactions among and between organisms and their environment (surroundings). Energy Flow: Main Energy Source for life on Earth: Autotrophs harness Energy via photosynthesis. Producers trap less than 2% of the sun's energy. Trophic Levels: Each step in a food chain or web. - Producers/Autotrophs: 1st trophic level = makes own food from light or chemical energy, not eating. - Consumers/Heterotrophs: 2nd, 3rd … trophic level = gets energy by eating other organisms. ​ Must have a producer, Autotroph ​ 1st Level Consumer, Primary Consumer, heterotroph: Herbivore ​ 2nd Level Secondary Consumer: Carnivore or Omnivore ​ 3rd Level Tertiary Consumer: Carnivore or Omnivore ​ Must have Decomposers Detritivore - Breaks down dead organisms into smaller particles and puts nutrients back into the soil and substrate. Food Chain: Shows the transfer of Energy from the sun through a series of organisms in an ecosystem. Food Web: Food chains in a community that are connected. Both the food chain and food web keep organisms in a community in balance. The Basics: Arrows always point towards the organism taking the energy. (prey to predator). Interactions: Interactions in the world makes a web of interdependence between organisms and their environment. Organism: individual living thing made of one or many cells. Levels of Organization - Small to Largest: ​ Individual: One organism of a species – group of organisms so similar that they can breed & produce fertile offspring. ​ Population: group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area. ​ Community: Groups of different populations that live in the same area. ​ Ecosystem: All organisms in specific areas plus non-living, physical environments. ​ Biome: Group of ecosystems with the same climate and dominant communities. ​ Biosphere: All living parts of the planet – from 8 km above to 11 km below earth’s surface. Mnemonic Device: Ink Pens Can Explode Blue Balloons!!! (Individual, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biome, Biosphere) Biotic Factors: Biological influences on an organism within an ecosystem. The living factors. Predators, the type of prey, the amount of food, and other animals that could be in competition with the organism for space. Abiotic Factors: Physical or non-living characteristics that limit which life forms it will support.Climate, the type of soil, the salinity of the water, the temperature, and amount of precipitation that determine if an organism can survive in a particular environment. Habitat: Where an organism lives (its address). Niche: All the physical and biological conditions in organism’s habitat and how the organism uses them (it’s occupation) Ex. Bullfrog: As an adult, eats insects, worms, fish, etc. Must live near water. Ocean Zones Intertidal zone: Area between high tide mark and low tide mark. Neritic zone: Division of Pelagic between the low tide mark and the continental shelf near shoreline. Benthic Zone: Ocean seafloor or bottom; pertaining to areas of water and organisms at the bottom of a water body. Pelagic: Water portion of the ocean divided by two horizontal zones including the Neritic and Oceanic environment from shore to shore, the whole ocean basin. Oceanic: Open ocean zone within the Pelagic, Divided into five vertical regions. ​ Epipelagic: Upper Oceanic zone where light penetrates, down to 200 m (650 ft) and where most life lives. ​ Mesopelagic: Middle of the Oceanic that is from 200m-1000m (650-3,000ft), where sunlight reaches but not strong enough to support much life. ​ Bathypelagic: Deep water in Oceanic between 1000-4000 m (3,000-13,000 ft) ​ Abyssal Pelagic: Meaning bottomless even deeper water in Oceanic between 4000-6000 m (13,000-20,000 ft) ​ Hadalpelagic: Underground abode of the dead Deepest water in the oceanic trenches below\ Light Zones: ​ Photic: Sunlit zone division where sunlight reaches 200m or 650ft , most biologically productive portion of the photic zone. Countershading & photosynthesis. ​ Dysphotic: Twilight zone between 200m or 656ft - 1,000m or 3,280ft. Light rapidly decreases as depth increases, less biologically productive of the photic zone. Bioluminescence. ​ Aphotic: Midnight zone without light, perpetual darkness Below 1000m. No eyes or plants. Ocean Depth Increase: Temperature decreases, pressure increases, and salinity generally becomes more stable or slightly increases.  Interactions Interactions: Together, biotic and abiotic factors determine the survival and growth of an organism and the productivity of an ecosystem and its specific habitat. Symbiosis: Close and long-term interaction between two different species that can be mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic. Competition: Organisms of two species use the same limited resource and have a negative impact on each other - / - Ex: Crabs and snails both fight over hiding spots in rocks to stay safe from predators. Predation: A member of one species, predator, eats all or part of the body of a member of another species, prey + / - Ex: A seagull eats a fish to survive. Mutualism: A clownfish lives safely in a sea anemone, and the sea anemone gets cleaned by the clownfish + / + Ex: A clownfish lives safely in a sea anemone, and the sea anemone gets cleaned by the clownfish. Commensalism: A long-term, close association between two species in which one benefits and the other is unaffected + / 0 Ex: Jack fish swim freely along with the sharks unharmed, sharks uses them as a “blind”to keep out the view of prey. Parasitism: A long-term, close association between two species in which one benefits and the other is harmed + / - Ex: A leech attaches to a fish and drinks its blood, which hurts the fish. Estuaries and Mangroves Mangroves: Mangroves are coastal trees and shrubs that thrive in warm, salty environments, with around 80 species found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. They grow in muddy, low-oxygen soil with slow-moving water, helping protect coastlines, provide shelter for wildlife, and filter water. With special roots that take in oxygen and leaves that get rid of excess salt, mangroves are perfectly suited to survive in these unique environments. Estuaries/Coastal Wetlands: where freshwater from rivers mixes with salty ocean water. Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands are highly Productive due to light and nutrients ​ River mouths ​ Inlets ​ Bays ​ Sounds ​ Salt marshes ​ Mangrove forests Seagrass Beds: Support a variety of marine species, stabilize shorelines, reduce wave impact. Brackish Water: A mixture of salt and freshwater. Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands Usefulness ​ Contain many different to Humans: Important ecological and economic ​ types of organisms services ​ Marine equivalent of tropical rainforests ​ Coastal aquatic systems maintain water ​ Habitats for one-fourth of all marine quality by filtering Toxic pollutants, species Excess plant nutrients and Sediments. ​ Nurseries for many types of fish. Can ​ Absorb other pollutants impact fishing of adult species. ​ Provide food, timber, fuel wood, and habitats Estuary Characteristics: ​ Provide recreation and tourism income ​ Exposed to daily rhythms of tides and activities ​ Freshwater runoff ​ Reduce storm damage and coast ​ Fluctuations in salinity ​ Erosion ​ Different substrates – sand and mud are deposited in varying depths Coral Reefs, Estuaries and Mangroves Are Amazing Centers of Biodiversity: 4 Types of Estuaries: Drowned River Mouth (Tectonic): Largest estuary in the U.S. is the Chesapeake Bay. Fjords: Steep, glacially eroded U-shaped troughs. Bar Built Estuary: Sandbars and barrier islands, barrier between ocean and river’s freshwater. Tectonic: Formed by faulting Plants: Vascular Plants, able to remove excess salt from their tissues by special pores. Invertebrates: Seasonal Species: ​ Barnacles ​ Fish – found in estuaries as juveniles ​ Mussels ​ Striped bass ​ Periwinkles ​ Bluefish ​ Fiddler crabs ​ Menhaden ​ Marsh snails ​ Surfperch ​ Shrimp ​ Clams Birds: ​ Worms ​ Herons ​ Sandpipers ​ Pelicans ​ Osprey – exclusively fish eating birds ​ Ducks ​ Goose (Geese) Mammals: Manatees – come to feed in estuaries Threats: ​ Development – marinas, homes, coastal development (Of the 32 largest cities in the world, 22 are located on estuaries) ​ Dredging – removal of bottom sediments for ship navigation ​ Disposal of dredged sediments ​ Toxic Runoff Protection: 1972: Congress created the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. It protects the estuaries around the U.S. Adaptations: Estuaries host invertebrates like oysters with strong shells to withstand tidal changes, vertebrates like fish that tolerate varying salinity, phytoplankton that thrive in nutrient-rich waters, and zooplankton that migrate with tides for food and shelter. Ocean Salinity Ocean (Seawater) Chemistry: 97.2% of the Earth’s surface water is Marine. By mass, seawater is about 96.5% water and 3.5% dissolved substances. The World Ocean contains 5.5 trillion tons of salt. Salinity: Total quantity (or concentration) of dissolved inorganic (non-living) solids in water. Salinity varies by mass (3.3% - 3.7%) due to amounts of Precipitation, Evaporation, Freshwater runoff from continents. ​ Most dissolved solids in seawater are salts: sodium chloride (NaCl). - THE MOST ABUNDANT TYPE OF SALT!!! ​ Higher salinity lowers the freezing point of water, Higher salinity increases water density. Dissolved Salts: Dissolved salts tend to attract water molecules therefore seawater evaporates more slowly than freshwater. Residual Material: 99% of the residual material in seawater is… ​ Chloride - THIS IS THE MOST ABUNDANT ION!!! ​ Sodium ​ Sulfate ​ Magnesium ​ Calcium ​ Potassium ​ Bicarbonate Sea Salt Evaporates: Every element present in the earth’s crust and atmosphere is present in the ocean in extremely small amounts. ​ Table salt (made of sodium and chlorine - 98%) - and anti-caking agents (2%) ​ Epsom salt (made from the mineral epsomite - contains magnesium and sulfate (sulfur and oxygen) - MgSO4 ​ Other mineral salts (Pink Himalayan salt, Celtic Sea Salt, Kosher Salt) The source of the ocean’s salts: ​ Rain: Water that falls on rocks is slightly acidic so it erodes rocks which carry salts into the sea) ​ Groundwater: Water traveling through rock, sand, and soil carry salts into the sea) ​ Crashing surf: Dissolves crustal rock ​ River water: Runoff that picks up salts along the sides and bottom of the riverbed. ​ Hydrothermal Vents/Ocean Seafloor: Minerals released from below the ocean floor. Tectonic Movements: The majority of the components of ocean water come from tectonic movement. Convection currents slowly churn the Earth’s mantle allowing some deeply trapped substances to escape by outgassing through volcanoes and rift vents. These tend to be released: ​ Carbon Dioxide ​ Chlorine ​ Sulfur ​ Hydrogen ​ Fluorine ​ Nitrogen ​ Water Vapor The Ocean is in Chemical Equilibrium: Proportions and amounts of dissolved salts per unit volume of ocean are nearly constant. Whatever goes in must come out elsewhere! Plankton and Zooplankton Plankton: Small, plant similar organisms in the water that make their own food through photosynthesis using sunlight. Zooplankton: Animal-like organisms that drift in the water, and some can grow into larger animals like jellyfish and shrimp. May consume other organisms. Flagella: Whip-like tails that some plankton use to help move through the water. Cilia:Tiny hair-like structures on some plankton that help them move and catch food. Spines: Sharp structures that some plankton have to help keep them afloat or protect them. Chlorophyll: Green substance in phytoplankton that helps them capture sunlight to make food through photosynthesis. ​ Plankton stay near the surface to get sunlight for photosynthesis, moving up and down to find optimal light, avoid predators, and maintain their place in the food chain.