2. What are the different
environmental zones?
S Pelagic Zone – water environment
S Benthic Zone - seafloor
S Neritic Zone – coastal or continental shelf
S Oceanic Zone – deep water zone
S Photic Zone – surface where enough light for plants to grow
(50-100ft)
S Aphotic Zone – without light
3.
4. How is the coast line divided
up into zones?
S Supralittoral or Splash Zone (above high tide)
S Littoral or Intertidal Zone (between high and low tide)
S Sublittoral or Subtidal Zone (below low tide)
6. S Life in the zones is affected by temperature, dissolved
gases, substrate and nutrient changes
S Coastal areas and photic zones vary more by latitude
than the deeper zones which remain fairly constant
7. How do animals stay buoyant? What features allow
them to do that?
S Shape, fat, size, and ability to change shape when diving
S Water’s density helps animals stay afloat
S Animals do not need to focus on structural features but features for swimming
S Some secrete gases to stay afloat (i.e. algae and sea jellies)
S Sea snail rides gas bubble float
S Chambered nautilus uses nitrogen gas to fill chambers in shell
S Cuttle fish also regulate gas to stay afloat
8.
9. S Most fish have swim bladders and adjust gas as dive
S Whales and seals store low density fat in bodies
S Sharks store oil in liver and muscles
10. Fluid Balance
S Must constantly expend energy to prevent dehydration
S Body higher concentration of water molecules than sea
S Fish drink sea water and deposit salt across gills
S Sharks and rays have similar salinity as ocean
S Some animals adapt from fresh to salt water and back
again
S What animal in the NW does this?
11. S Bioluminescence
S an interaction between the compound lucifern and the
enzyme luciferase creates light
S Dinoflagellates are agitated by the movement of the
water
S Squid, shrimp and some fish also create this chemical
reaction
13. Color
S or lack there of (i.e. jelly fish blend in with back ground)
S Tropical water fish have bright patterns to confuse
predators
S Animals that sting, are foul tasting or have poisonous
flesh are bright
S Fish that swim near the surface have dark backs and
white bellies to avoid predators
14. Barriers and Boundaries
S Can you think of some barriers in the ocean?
S Salinity, temperature, light, density of water
S As water deepens and becomes more homogenous not
as many boundaries
S Gulf Stream, continents, ridges, and sea mounts can act
as barriers
15. Who are the primary
producers?
S Phytoplankton
S Chlorophyll is trapped by photosynthesis to produce energy
S Synthesis of inorganic material into organic matter
S Sugars are then broken down with oxygen to produce respiration
S Biomass or the organisms weight or grams of carbon (material
produced)
S Weight of organic carbon in grams under a square meter of sea
surface (gC/m2)
17. S Primary productivity = rate at which biomass is produced
S Standing crop = total living material in an area at one
time
S Equals growth, reproduction, grazing and death
S Seaweeds represent only 5-10 percent of total
photosynthetic material in oceans
18. How can light intensity vary
at the surface of the
oceans?
S Latitude and seasons
S Artic one peak
S Temperate two peaks with grazing in between
S Tropics do not see large peaks due to low nutrient levels
S Only near equator where up welling does phytoplankton
increase
19. How do nutrients affect primary production at
different latitudes?
S Depends on the availability of light
S Arctic regions depend more on length of light
S Middle latitude nutrients reduced by winter storms
S When surface water density decreases with warmer
waters of spring then nutrients increase
20.
21. S Grazing organisms release nutrients for a second peak in
primary production
S Production limited in tropics and subtropics due to lack of
surface mixing
S Nitrogen is essential for the formation of proteins and
phosphorous which is required in energy actions, cell
membranes and nucleic acids
S Nitrogen in the form of nitrates and phosphorous in the form of
phosphates are removed by phytoplankton
22. S Human activities from fertilizers and combustion of fossil
fuels have increased nutrients in coastal areas
S As nutrients broken down the oxygen is depleted
S Over supply of nitrates in Mississippi River delta area has
created a dead zone
S Many other coastal areas are seeing similar problems
around the world
24. How can primary production
be measured?
S Counting phytoplankton cells
S Chlorophyll levels and pigment present
S Exposing chlorophyll to certain wave length of light causes pigment to
fluoresce = intensity measures the biomass
S Amount of oxygen in sea water can measure gross and net primary
production and respiration
S Radioisotope carbon-14 measures amount in cells after a period of time
S Satellite images can measure sea surface chlorophyll levels
25. How is this measured or reflected?
S Highest commercial fish productivity is associated with areas of
upwelling and along coasts where phytoplankton populations
are in high numbers
S Phytoplankton provides first step in food chain
S See areas of convergence, divergence, upwelling and
downwelling with the distribution of primary production
S (i.e. equatorial Pacific = upwelling and divergence; Antartica =
divergence; North Atlantic and Pacific gyres = convergence)
28. S Upwelling areas 2x productive as coastal areas and 6x
more productive than open ocean
S Upwelling represents a small portion of ocean
S Total primary production shows organic carbon or
production spread thin over a large area
29. S Open ocean same as deserts for productivity
S Estuaries are the most productive! Why?
S Light reaches bottom and high detritus levels/nutrients to
support high biomass per acre
30. What is the difference between a food chain, web and
trophic level?
S Food Chain follows one line of connection from primary
producer to carnivore
S Food Web is the complex interrelationship of many food
chains
S Trophic levels focus on the transfer of energy
32. Trophic Levels
S As move up food chain the size and numbers increase while the biomass
decreases. Collectively the lower on the food chain the higher the biomass
S Diversity also decreases
S Open ocean energy transfer is 10% (i.e. human eats 10 kg salmon =
salmon eat 100 kg of fish = fish eat 1000 kg of carnivorous zooplankton =
carnivorous plankton eat 10,000 kg of herbivorous plankton = 100,000 kg
was needed of phytoplankton to feed 1 kg on top)
S 90% energy loss at each level goes to metabolic needs and organic
material that is not ingested
34. Changes in the food web
S Krill is the main diet for many animals in Antarctica (i.e.
penguins, fish, seals, and whales
S Recently seen decrease in krill last 40 years
S Global Warming may to be to blame due to lack of sea
ice which grows algae on underside for krill in the winter
36. Food Chains and Humans
S What level in the food chain do humans tend to
harvest food from oceans?
S High on the food chain
S Inefficient especially in open oceans
S More efficient in high productivity areas along coasts
S Best harvest is low on the food chain
37.
38. Chemosynthetic communities
S Where are they found?
S East Pacific Rise, Mariana and Okinawa troughs, N. Fuji
basin, mid Atlantic Ridge, and along Gorda and Juan de
Fuca Ridges
S What kind of animals do you find there?
S Anemones, worms, barnacles, limpets, crab and fish
40. S Tube worms can be 10 ft long and grow 3.3 ft per year
S No mouth or digestive system only internal body cavity is
filled with bacteria
S Synthesis or digestion is all done by the bacteria it’s self
S Both clams and tube worms have red flesh and red blood
based on hemoglobin
42. Chemosynthesis
S Chemosynthesis = bacteria derive energy form dissolved chemicals in
sea
S Form of primary production that is not dependent on sunlight
S Example of other communities:
S Gulf of Mexico a crystalline mound of methane gas and hydrogen sulfide
where worms lived 1800 ft down
S Off Louisiana and Texas oil and gas seep up to surface where clams,
mussels and large tube worms live at 1600-3000 ft down
S N. Atlantic off mid-Atlantic Ridge Lost City of bacteria, sponges and coral
2300-2600 ft down
44. What is an extremophile? Do you know one?
S Thriving in conditions no other life can live
S Growing at 235 degrees F and depths of 12,000 ft =
Pyrolobus fumarii
S Uses hydrogen and sulfur compounds for energy
S Also found in extreme cold 39 degrees F
S Found in salt ponds for evaporation of seawater
