Deep Ocean Currents & Marine Ecology Review

Density

The amount of mass in a given volume.

Salinity

The amount of dissolved salt in water.

Parts per thousand (ppt)

A unit used to measure salinity, showing how many parts of salt are in 1,000 parts of water.

Thermohaline Circulation

The global movement of ocean water driven by differences in temperature and salinity.

Ecology

The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment.

Biosphere

All living organisms on Earth.

Biome

A large grouping of plants and animals that occupy areas of similar climate.

Ecosystem

A small grouping of interacting plants, animals, and their environment.

Community

All living organisms in the ecosystem.

Population

A single species of organism.

Individual

A single organism within a species.

Abiotic

The nonliving parts of an environment.

Biotic

The living parts of an environment.

Symbiosis

The interaction between organisms.

Mutualism

A symbiotic relationship that both organisms benefit from.

Commensalism

A symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits, and the other is neither harmed nor benefited.

Parasitism

A symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is harmed.

Trophic levels

The feeding levels in a food chain or food web.

Producer

An organism that makes its own food using sunlight or chemicals.

Consumer

An organism that eats other organisms for energy.

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down dead/decaying organic matter.

Food web

A group of interconnected food chains.

Food chain

A simple path that shows how energy moves from one organism to another.

10% rule

On average, only 10% of the energy available at one trophic level is passed to be stored as biomass at the next level.

Population growth

An increase in the number of individuals in a population over time.