Marine Ecology Test 1

Ocean Anthropocene

specific and cascading anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems including positive an dnegative human impacts in the forms of destruction, thrests, interventions,managment, conservation and communications.

inclusive science communication

seeks to build further methods for reaching marginalized groups that are often left out by typical top-down science communication

5 guiding questions of ocean studies in the Anthropocene

1) What is the Ecology of the organism/habitat?

2) What are the threats, stressors, and problems?

3) How do we measure threats and ecology (1 and 2)?

4) How do we save, manage, and conserve it? 

5) How do we communicate it? 

4 “oceanograpy” of marine sciecne basics 

1) Biological oceangraphy 

2) Chemical oceanography 

3) Geological oceanography 

4) Physical oceanography 

Physical properties of seawater

• temperature: -2 degrees C- 40 degrees C

• pressure: the deeper the stronger the pressure

• salinity: about 33ppt-38ppt

• Color:blue,borwn,green and red

• Strong conductor for sound

• Oxygen content: higher in cold water than hot water

Solubility pump 

Ocean takes up atomospheric CO2. CO2 reacts with water and forms a balance of several inorganic carbons 

The Biological Pump

The transformation of CO2 into organic carbon then sinking in the deep ocean and decomposing at depth. “Marine Snow”

Links between the ocean and climate change

• Since the Industrial Revolution, ocean has absorebed 30% of all CO2

• Absorbed 90% of heat gnerated by emissions

• Increased SST, ocean acifiication and sea level rise.

Ocean Zones In Order (top to bottom)

• Epipelgaic zone- light zone “euphoric” or “photic”

• Mesopolgic- middle zone, some light

• Bathypelagic- deep zone, no light “aphonic”, 75% of living space in the ocean

• Abyssalpelagic- deep extending to seafloor

• Hadalpelagic- deep open trenches

(Every Morning Beyonce Acts Heroically)

3 ecological categories of marine organisms:

1) free-floating plankton (phytoplankton, zooplankton)

2) Nexton- strong swimmers

3) Benthos- bottom dwellers

Importance of currents in marine ecology and conservation

• distribution of nutrients

• Habitat distribution

upwelling 

critical for marine productivity. Sea life is concentrated at surface, but organic material is deep below. Sweep vital nutrients back to surface. 

Downwellings

sinking of surface water. Oxygen rich water flushed the deep sea. Mainly in polar regions.

marine conservation

the protection of marine species and ecosystesm in oceans and seas worldwide. Also involves mitigating human activites such as overfishing, habitt destruction, pollution, whaling and other issues that impact marine life and habitats. 

History of Marine Conservation

• Really began in 1970-1980s

• IUCN (1940)- marine protected area and multi-national agreements

• Undersea explorations and technolgoy (1970s)

• Endangered Species conservation act (1970)

• UN resolution and restoring fisheries and marine ecosystems

• UN decade for ocean sustabinability and restoration (2021-2030) His

Historically which species were given attention 

Focused on things people eat or megafauna. 

Shifting baselines

change in how a system is measured against pervious reference points (which themselves can be changes from an even earlier system state). The “new normal”.

• the next generation does without refrence to what previous generations have documented

• Gradual shift of the baseline in terms of species, ecosystem, thing, and at what past levels.

Daniel Pauly

• talked about shifiting baselines

• Studies the human impact on global fisheries

Components of Marine Conservation 

• human impacts- increase of CO2, boats, gas spills, etc

• techniques- turtle excluder device 

• laws and treaties - Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972). Convention on Fishing and Conservation of Living Resources of the High Seas 

• organizations, events initivatives- Oceana, Sea Shepherd, Reef Watch, NOAA

Differenes between Marine Conservation and Terrestrial Conservation

• Sea is much larger than the terrestrial realm.

• Marine species are poorly known compared to those on land

• Dispersal stanges are usually smaller- and have longer potential dispersal distances. (Home ranges are larger, body sizes vary, transport of nutrients and organisms over massive distances)

• size classes are different

• spatial ecology is fundamentally different (structure-formers are smaller: think trees vs corals)

• Sea is geochemically downhill (things flow from land to sea)

• Humans depend far more on marine wildlife

• Nations and marine jurisdictions/ ownership- across boundaries and mismatch of scale= overall less protection (disparity of conservation capabilties between wealthy and poor nations).

 Marine ecology 

Scientific study of marine-life habitats, populations, and interactions among organisms and the surrounding environment. 

Ecosystem function

How an ecosystem works

• Sum of all interactions, services, processes, values and environmental change

Depends on structure, biodiverstiy, productivity and energy flow.

r-strategy

organisms produce many offspring with little parental care. Often in unstable environemtns with high mortality rates for young.

k-strategy 

smaller number of offspring but invest more resources into its survival. Slower maturation and more parental care. 

morphology

structure or shape of an organism, growth pattern

physiology

biological processes that occur for an animal to exist, “how an animal works”, and regulates

ecological feedbacks

the effect that change in one part of an ecosystem has on another and how this effectt then “feedbacks” to effect the source of the change including more or less of it.

ecological restoration

the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.

ecological tipping point

a critical threshold where gradual enviromental changes trigger a rapid, often irreversible, shift to a new, usually degraded, stable state for an ecosystem

ecotone 

the area wehre two communities interact. the transition zone between two biomes where communities meet and integrate

symbiosis

interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association

mutualism

mututally benifical interaction between individuals of two species

facultative mutualism

not essential for the survival of either species (independent) 

obligate mutualisms

essential for survival of one or both species (dependent)

endosymbiosis mutualism

symbiont lives inside host 

ectosymbiosis mutulaism

symbiont lives outside host

purpose of science communication

• relationship between science and society

• informing, educating and rasing awareness

• communication strategy

• critical to equality, diersity, STEM and access

Ivory tower of Science

“An environment of interllectual pursuit disconnected from the practical concerns of everyday life”

deficit model

• one way 

• public scepticism towards science caused by lack of adequate knowledge about science 

dialouge model

• 3rd party help, engagment, bidirectionality

• debate anddialogue

• scientists must learn to communicate

why engage in science communication

• cultivate interest and enjoyment

• you have the responsibility as an ambassador

• People make an enormous number of decisions every day, most based on science

• add to public scientific literacy, inform the voting population, change policy, secure funding

ridge to reef conservation

• intergrated “whole-of-ecosystem” or integrated management approach

• Inter-connections and managment 

• land and seascapse conservation

types of estuaries

salt marshes (temperate)- salt tolerant grasses

mangrove forests (tropics)- 70% of tropical coastlines

functional role of magrove habitats

• Mangroves are a major component of over 60% of tropical coastlines

• critical habitat for many marine organisms

• bouncers of the coast

biology of magroves

• tree/shrub that grows in saline coastal sediment habitats

• faculative halophyte

adaptations of magroves

• salt glands: prevent plasmolysis.

• stomata: sunken in cuticle and epidermis. Allow gas exchange for photosynthesis. Restricts opening to conserve water

• cuticle: thick waxy layer surrounding the leaf. Water proof and succulent leaves

mangrove distribution

moving more northward, and is increasing along coasts

intertidal ecology 

• transition zone betwee land and ocean 

• dominated by algae using lots of sunlight 

• abundant food, highly productive 

• stressful habitat: wave action, desiccation, tides, temperature 

costal intertidal zones

supratidal, intertidal (upper, middle, and lower), and subtidal

ecological niche

how, when and where it fits in to the natural world

fundamental niche 

habitats it can live and the resources it can exploit 

realized niche

habitats it actually lives and the resources it actually consumes, given interactions with other species

kelp forests

• most productive cold water marine habitat

• requires lots of water movement

kelp forest biology 

• holdfast root, blades, and air bladders

blue carbon

carbon captured by costal ocean ecosystems

ecosystem services of kelp forests

• medicine

• removing carbon and nutrient pollution

• reduce wave size by 60%

ecosystem services of costal habitats 

• nursery and breeding grounds → high movemtn of organisms and tropic energy between habitats 

• costal plants and algaw filter water and produce O2 

• Erosin control, and costal barrier 

• Blue carbon= marine carbon sequestration 

threats to costal habitats

• costal developmetn

• runoff

• agriculture fertilizer and pesticides, sedimentation, climate change, invasive species, overfishing

marine biological diversity

• comprehensive definition of biodiversity encompasses variety at all levels, from genes to ecosystesm

why is species diversity important

• ecosystem services

• a focal point of ecology and evolution

• porvides a varietry of diets and robust food webs

• impacts conservation and managment plans

• resilience!

marine biodiverstiy credits

assigning economic value to marine biodiversity so that protecting it is finacially suported

• environmentally focused on protecting and restoring marine ecosystems

marine diversity hotspots

geographic area that harbours a disproportionate number of species, usually endemic

Largest marine hotspots 

• Indo-Pacific coral triangle: huge in species richness. 76% our world’s corals, 2000 species of fish. 

• Galapagos: high endemism and uniqueness (not sheer numbers). 2,900 marine species. 20% of marine life here is endemic. 

categories of diverstiy 

• taxononic diversity: number and abundacne of species 

• functional measures of diversity: focus on traits 

• genetic diversity: diversity in DNA between individuals of a speices 

common metrics for diversity

• dominance- most common species

• species richness- measure of the number of species in a sample.

• species diversity- measurement of how evenly distributed organisms are among species (based on proportion)

• biocriteria- index or rarity or ecosystem haelth based on species rarity or sensitvity categories

how to calculate species richness

Species ricness = total number of species / samplign area

how to calculate species diversity

Diversity = (1/sum of (proportion of each species²))