What are Plankton?

-Characteristics

-size

-groups

• Plankton are organisms that swim or drift weakly
• migrate vertically
• usually microscopic in size
• two main grous: phyoplankton, zooplankton

What are Nekton?

-characteristics?

-size?

-examples

• active swimmers
• vertical and latitudinal migration
• often macroscopic with specialized muscles for locomotion
• very diversified group
• ex: fish, squid, reptile

Pelagic Organisms

-both plankton and nekton are pelagico rorganisms

-these 2 groups can be distinguished by their size

• larger organisms tend to be nekton and smaller tend to be plankton

Benthos

-general characteristics?

-types?

-groups?

yes, ex: Halibut

70% of Nektonic Larvals often metamorphomise into a benthic lifestyle after adulthood.

What are the Classification of Organisms? (In order)

1. Monera

2. Protista

3. Fungi

4. Metaphytae

5. Metazoa

My Papa Ficticiously Misses Mama.

Monera

-characteristics

-examples

-importance

• simple, unicellular organisms with no true nucleus (prokaryotic)
• cells contain "naked" DNA
• Nutrition is mainly absorbed
• ex: Bacteria, cyanobacteria (blue green algae)
• conducts simple amounts of photosynthesis
• converts nitrogen into nitrates (essential for plants)
• dominate in environments too stressful for most organisms

Protista

-characteristics?

-examples?

-importance?

• organisms that possess a true nucleus (eukaryotic)
• many are unicellular (animals, plants, and intermediate forms)
• many live in colonies
• nutrition is autotrophic and heterotrophic
• ex:foraminifera, dinoflagellates, diatoms
• crtitical for ecology of ocean
• large portion of marine living mass
• take up and release chemicals in seawater
• serve as food for other organisms
• skeletons contribute to sedimentary deposits of the deep sea

Fungi

-characteristics?

-importance?

• there are very few marine fungi (most live on land)
• eukaryotic
• heterotrophic
• live mainly in intertidal zone
• there, they keep algae from drying at a low tide
• primary role is to decompose organic matter

Metaphytae (Kingdom Plantae)

-characteristics?

-examples?

-importance?

• multicellular
• eukaryotic
• autotrophic
• conduct photosynthesis, use CO2, and produce oxygen
• found on inner continental shelf, where there is sufficient light
• ex: brown algae, red algae, eelgrass

Metazoa (Kingdom Animalia)

-characteristics?

- examples?

• multicellular
• eukaryotic
• heterotrophic
• invertebrates and vertebrates
• ex: comb-jelly, polychaete worm, blue whale
• size=macroscopic; >30m

What does Autotrophic mean?

-the synthesizing of organic materials from inorganic materials

-They mainly extract Carbon (C) from CO2 and Nitrogen (N) from NO3

-all green plants are autotrophic

-one that extracts food from organic compounds (plants or animals)

-all animals are heterotrophic

• the amount of organic matter that is synthesized from inorganic materials (C,N) by autotraphs
• amount of carbon fixed by organisms during the synthesis of organic matter (expressed in g Carbon/m^3/day)
• most primary production is from photosynthesis and uses light as a source of energy
• factors controlling it are light zones and nutrient availability

Light zones-

• A measure of the concentration of dissolved solids in seawater
• average seawater sample has salinity of 35% (3.5% salt, 96.5% water)
• Major Solutes- Chloride (Cl-), sodium (Na+), sulfate, magneisum(Mg2+) ,calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+)
• Euryhaline species tolerate a wide range of salinity (oysters, estuarine and coastal environments)
• Stenohaline species tolerate a low range of salinity (most open ocean organisms)

Phytoplankton

-characteristics?

-examples?

-importance

• mainly unicellular organisms that float in ocean's surface waters
• some can be macroscopic (ex: Sargassum algae)
• present throughout Photic Zone, including under Polar Ice
• dominant plants in the ocean
• predominant roles in food chains
• approx 4000 species (diatoms, dinoflagellates, coccolithophorides, silicoflagellates)
• dominant primary producers of pelagic realm
• convert inorganic materials (nitrate, phosphate) into organic matter (thus, base of marine food chains)-->stimulates photosynthesis

6CO2 + 6H20<-->C6H12O6 + O2

Carbon Dioxide Water Respiration Carbohydrates Oxygen

(Respiration requires metabolic energy)

photosynthesis measured in mgC/m3/day or gC/m3/year

• Source of CO2 (abundant quantities in ocean, so doesn't limit amount of photosynthesis)
• Solar energy

What kind of relationship do light and nutrients have in primary productivity?

From the equator to the poles:

• solar radiation decreases
• nutrients increase (esp in upwelling zones)

Thus, amount of light and nutrients necessary for primary productivity form an inverse relationship

this affects the seasonal variations of primary productivity at different latitudes

gyre (water circulation system) that moves clockwise in northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere

examples: north atlantic gyre, north pacific gyre, south pacific

gyres that move anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere

ex: Alaska gyre, Oyashiu gyre

• have same morphology of gyres but are much smaller
• formed when two water masses of different temperature meet
• a cold core ring occurs where nutrients and productivity are low

Continental Divergence and Continental Convergence

Where does each one usually occur? 

Continental Divergence

What are the general classifications of zooplankton?

Examples?

How are zooplanktons classified?

What type of organisms exist within each classification?

• based on nutrition
  • Grazers- consume plants directly (herbivores)
    
  • Predators- hunt other animals (carnivores)
    
  • Scavengers- eat dead organic matter (ex: many benthic species, crabs)
    
  • Filter Feeders-obtain food by filtering organic matter (living or dead) out of water (ex: barnacles use their cirri to extract food from their surroundings)
    
  • Deposit Feeders- ingests sediment and mud and extracts food particles mixed within it (ex: earthworms)

Where do Copepods fit within the first 4 taxonomic classification of organisms?

Characteristics?

Euphausiids

-What Kingdom and Phylum are they?

- Characteristics?

What is Diel Vertical Migration?

What are the 3 Diel Migration Patterns?

Diel Vertical Migration are vertical patterns that zooplankton move in within 24 hour processes

3 Diel migration patterns

1. Nocturnal Migration- single daily ascent at sunset, single descent at sunrise (most common)
2. Twilight Migration- 2 ascents and 2 descents every 24 hours
3. Reverse migration- single daily descent at sunset, single ascent at sunrise (least common)

vertical distribution patterns

patterns of vertical ascent and descent of zooplankton within different seasons

-ex: copepods

What characterizes the amount of Zooplankton biomass?

What other species' biomass can Zooplankton's biomass be compared to?

Zooplankton biomass decreases rapidly with depth

phytoplankton

What is an Ecosystem?

What are its characteristics?

• as trophic levels increase--> animal size increases, generation time becomes longer, and body weight increase w/proportion to size
• food webs account for species of more complex dietary systems and/or more competitve relationships of certain predator species
• a phytoplankton's size is the determinor of the number of trophic levels
  • small phytoplankton-->more trophic levels
  • larger phytoplankton-->less trophic levels
• a microbial loop is an independent food web; it's essential for nutrient remineralization (regeneration)
  
  
  

• a pyramid presenting the complexities of organisms based on their nutritional habits and illustrates the process of energy transfer
• the larger the size, the larger the amount of energy contained in that trophic layer
• from order to largest to smallest: plants, herbivores, primary carnivores, secondary carnivores, tertiary carnivores

What is osmosis?

How do fish in the ocean undergo osmosis? 

Osmosis is the movement of water from one solute concentration to another through a semipermeable membrane

The water travels between the fish's body fluids and the seawater; body fluid and seawater have different salt concentrations

What adaptations have mesopelagic fish developed in response to the conditions they endure?

What features or characteristics evolved from these adaptations?

What are the 2 type of fish that migrate? 

Why do they migrate?

What are their migration patterns? 

What characterizes the Benthic Realm?

What characteristics do the species within this region share?

Examples of Benthic Species?

What characterizes Intertidal Environments? 

What is this type of environment also known as? 

It is the zone between the mean high spring tide and the mean low spring tide

aka Mid Littoral Z|one 

What are Estuaries?

What characterizes them?

How do species adapt to this environemnt?   

What are Coral Reefs?

Characteristics?

What are the two types of Coral Reefs? 

How do they differ? 

What is hydrogen sulphide?

Where are there high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide? 

What is chemosynthesis?

What kind of species undergo chemosynthesis?