Marine Biology Exam 1

Flashcards for marine biology lecture review.

Marine Biology

Combination of functional biology, ecology, and biodiversity.

Functional Biology

How an organism carries out basic functions.

Ecology

Study of abiotic and biotic factors involved in distribution and abundance of organisms.

Biodiversity

Controls on the number of species.

Aristotle

Observed and wrote down natural history observations.

Linnaeus

Developed first systematic classification and identification of species.

Georges Cuvier

Broadened Linnaeus classification and included fossils; father of paleontology; opposed evolutionary theory.

Edward Forbes

Developed azoic hypothesis (no life deeper than 300 fathoms).

Azoic Hypothesis

Hypothesis stating that no life exists deeper than 300 fathoms (1800 feet).

Michael Sars

Disproved the Azoic Hypothesis.

Charles Darwin

Developed the theory of coral reef subsidence.

Coral Reef Subsidence

New volcanic island grows, island sinks, and coral grows upwards.

H.M.S. Challenger

Led by Wyville Thomson and John Murray; first global scale view of marine biology; tested and disproved bathybius hypothesis.

Bathybius Hypothesis

Idea that the bottom of the ocean was covered in white slime where life arose.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Founded in 1903, contributed to American superiority in ocean science.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Founded in 1930, contributed to American superiority in ocean science.

Knorr

Research ship of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Alvin

Deep diving submersible launched by the Atlantis (WHOI).

Plankton

Organisms that live in the water column and cannot overcome ocean currents.

Nekton

Organisms that can swim strongly against ocean currents.

Neuston

Organisms in the air-sea interface at the top of the water.

Pluston

Organisms with part of the body in the water and part out (e.g., Portuguese man o'war).

Boring Organisms

Organisms that bore into walls.

Semi-infaunal Organisms

Organisms that live partly in the sediment and partly in the water column.

Infaunal

Live bared in the sediment

Epifaunal

Live on top of the sediment

Intertidal Zone

Area between high tide and low tide.

Neritic Zone

Coastal zone from low tide to the shelf slope break.

Pelagic Zone

Oceanic zone from the shelf slope break to open ocean.

Epipelagic Zone

Top 200 meters of the ocean, sunlit.

Mesopelagic Zone

200-1000 meters, twilight zone with very little light.

Bathypelagic Zone

1000-4000 meters, midnight zone with no light.

Abyssopelagic Plain

4000-6000 meters deep.

Hadal Zone

Trenches in the ocean.

Continental Shelf

Low sloping platform extending from shoreline.

Shelf-Slope Break

Transition between continental shelf and continental slope.

Continental Slope

Steep slope from edge of continental shelf.

Submarine Canyons

Erosional feature in the slope that allows sediment to rapidly move down the slope toward the continental rise

Continental Rise

Transition zone between slope and abyssal plain.

Abyssal Plain

Deep ocean floor, about 4000 m deep.

Tectonic Plates

Fragments of Earth's crust carried by currents in the upper mantle.

Continental Drift

Continents moving along with the spreading crust.

Pangaea

One giant land mass about 200 million years ago.

High Heat Capacity

A property of water; requires a lot of energy to change temperature.

High Heat of Evaporation

A property of water; lots of energy required to change water from liquid to gas.

Thermocline

A layer in a body of water where the temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below.

Salinity

Number of grams of dissolved inorganic solids per 1 kg of seawater (parts per thousand, ppt).

Principle of Constant Proportion

Proportion of many major elements in seawater are in constant proportion relative to each other.

PSU (Practical Salinity Units)

Measure of electrical conductivity of seawater relative to a standard potassium chloride solution.

Oxygen Minimum Zone

Area where oxygen concentrations reach a minimum just below the thermocline due to respiration of sinking organic matter.

Coriolis Effect

Deflection of air and water movement due to Earth's rotation; to the right in Northern Hemisphere, to the left in Southern Hemisphere.

Hadley Cell

Circulating air cell between the equator and 30°N/S.

Ferrel Cell

Circulating air cell between 30°N/S and 60°N/S.

Polar Cell

Circulating air cell around the poles.

Trade Winds

Winds moving toward the equator.

Prevailing Westerlies

Winds moving toward the poles from 30°N/S.

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

Area where southern and northern hemisphere trade winds converge, heavy precipitation.

Horse Latitudes

Areas of low wind and low precipitation at 30°N and 30°S.

Ekman Transport

Net transport of water at 90° to the right of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and 90° to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Gyre

Pileup of water creating high pressure, water flows downhill and is deflected, resulting in a circular current.

Western Boundary Currents

Narrow, fast flowing currents on the Western boundaries of gyres (e.g., Gulf Stream, Kuroshio).

Antarctica Circumpolar Current

Steady current flowing around Antarctica from West to East.

El Niño

Trade winds calm, warm water flows back toward the East, halting coastal upwelling.

La Niña

Intensification of normal conditions driven by stronger Trade Winds.

Thermohaline Circulation

Deep ocean circulation driven by density (temperature and salinity).

North Atlantic Deep Water

Cold, saltier water that sinks in the North Atlantic.

Antarctic Bottom Water

Deep water formation around Antarctica.

Individual Level

Individual organism physiologically independent from other organisms.

Population Level

Group of individuals (same species) responding to the same environmental factors and freely mixing.

Species Level

A single population (or group of populations) that are genetically isolated from other species

Community Level

Group of populations, each belonging to a different species, that live together and interact (interested in interspecies interactions)

Ecosystem Level

Entire habitat (arbitrarily defined) including all abiotic and biotic interactions

Biosphere Level

The entire set of living things on earth and the environment with which they interact (Ocean accounts for 99.9% of livable space on earth)

Territoriality

Defending a nesting, feeding, or breeding site (usually intraspecific) +/-

Predation

One organism captures/entraps/kills another for food +/ -

Commensalism

Beneficial to one organism without helping or hurting the other +/0

Mutualism

Both organisms benefit +/+

Parasitism

One organism relies upon another for survival. The host is negatively affected +/ -

Competition

Two organisms compete for resources -/-

Crypsis

Blending in with background.

Batesian Mimicry

Mimicking a dangerous animal to avoid predation.

Aposematism

Warning coloration

Commensalism

Relationship between two species in which one species benefits and the other species is unaffected

Mutualism

Evolved association between two (or more) species in which all species benefit from the association

Parasitism

When one species lives at the expense of another species, without totally consuming the host and killing them

Population

A group of individuals (of the same species) that are affected by the same overall environment. Relatively unconnected to other populations

Metapopulations

A series of subpopulations that are interconnected. Some subpopulations serve as sources, some as sinks, and some as both sources and sinks

Source

contributes individuals to other subpopulations

Sink

location that receives immigrants from source populations, but do not contribute individuals to the metapopulation (and cannot sustain a population on its own)

Foundation Species

Species that actually provide a habitat for other species to live (coral reefs, sea grass, mussel beds, etc)

Competition

occurs when two species utilize the same limited resource (food or space)