Ocean Ecology

Ecosystem

A collection of living and non living things interacting within a space. Not in a specific place, ecosystems interact with each other.

Ecosystem ecology

How nutrients and materials interact with a an ecosystem

Biomass

total weight of living things in an ecosystem

Productivity

How much stuff is produced, restored, and maintained an ecosystem.

Trophic structure

Different levels of organisms getting energy from each other

Food chain

a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.

Photosynthesis

When an organism gets suns energy and makes it chemical energy

Primary producers

Plants/Autotroph

Primary consumer

Herbivore eating plants

Secondary consumer

Carnivores eating herbivore

Tertiary consumer

Carnivore that eats herbivore

Detrivore

Animals that eat decomposing matter.

Food web

Takes into account that primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers aren’t always earting specific organisms. Multiple pathways.

Why do some ecosystems have longer food chains and bigger food webs than others?

If there isn’t a lot of sunlight or energy then there aren’t a lot of plants then there can’t be a lot of animals.

Ecosystem efficiency

Most energy consumed (90%) gets used of and only 10% gets transferred to next food chain level

Bioaccumulation

The accumulations of toxins doesn’t get used up by animals and gets fully transferred to next level of food chain.

Biosphere

All organisms

Biome

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

Community

All living organisms in the ecosystem

Population

A single species of organism

Individual

A single organism within a species

Biotic

Living (ex. fungi, animals, bacteria, plants, etc.)

Abiotic

Non-living (ex.sun, precipitation, salinity, air, temp, etc.)

Surf ocean zone

Closest to shore. Waves crash into the ground. Organisms that live here either attach to the ground, have strong shells, or bury into the ground.

Intertidal ocean zone