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Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

Terms in this set (52)

are drifters with minimal or no ability to control their

Plankton
position in the water column

swimmers able to propel themselves independently of

Nekton water currents

holoplankton-spend their entire lives in the plankton

holoplankton spend their entire lives in the plankton

spend only part of their life cycle in the plankton (e.g.

meroplankton
larvae)

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 the surplus of energy available for growth beyond that
scope for growth
required for maintenance

an organism that regulates its body temperatures despite

homeotherapy
changes in the external environmental temperature

an organism whose body temperature is identical to that

poikilothermy
of the external environment

a biological device where heat is conserved by moving

countercurrent exchange fluids through adjacent circulatory vessels in opposite
directions

a term describing organisms with body fluids with a lower

concentration of water and higher solute concentration
hyperosmotic
than the external environment, having a high osmotic
pressure there will be a net movement of water out of cell

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 a term describing organisms with body fluids with a higher
concentration of water and lower solute concentration
hypoosmotic
than the external environment

relating to organisms (as green plants) that can make

autotrophic complex organic nutritive compounds from simple
inorganic sources by photosynthesis

organisms that are unable to construct their own food

from inorganic sources, and therefore must consume
heterotrophic other organisms or organic molecules from the outside
environment. function as consumers or decomposers in
food chains.

live as photosynthetic autotrophs in the presence of light,

mixotrophic but absorb organic nutrients as heterotrophs in the
absence of light

a primitive method of capturing prey by swimming with

ram fedding
Productivity of the EpipelagictheOrganisms
mouth open
 a method of ingesting a prey item in fluids by sucking the
suction feeding
prey into the predator's mouth (grouper)

an organism that allows its internal concentration of salts

osmoconformer to change in order to match the external concentration of
salts in the surrounding water

an animal whose body fluids have a different osmolarity

than the environment and that must either discharge
osmoregulator
excess water if it lives in a hypotonic environment or take
in water if it inhabits a hypertonic environment

planktonic-dispersing larvae that derives its nourishment

planktotrophic
by feeding in the plankton

planktonic-dispersing larva that lives off yolk supplied via

lecithotrophic the egg

direct development

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 in fish, a series of sense organs arranged in a line along
lateral line
the side, used in mechanoreception

a small mass of calcium carbonate used in the inner ear of

otolith fish for perception of balance. The mass often grows in
increments that can allow us to age the fish

determining the location of something by measuring the

echolocation
time it takes for an echo to return from it

the depth at which the rate of photosynthesis by plants

compensation point exactly balances the rate of respiration by plants and
animals

the maximum amount of water vapor in the air at a given

saturation point
temperature

a pigment that absorbs light energy and transfers energy

accessory pigment to chlorophyll a in photosynthesis (Phycoerythrin,
Phycocyanin, Fucoxanthin)
Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms
 ratio of carbon to nitrogen to phosphorous as 106:16:1
Redfield Ratio found in the tissues of algae and zooplankton that feed on
diatoms

use of organic compounds as a carbon source during

Photoheterotrophy
bacterial photosynthesis

DOC- dissolved organic carbon

TEP Transparent extracellular polymers

Primary producers, Picoplankton through mesoplankton

Bacillarophycae

Dinophycae

Prymnesiophyta-Coccolithophore

Major Groups of Phytoplankton

Cyanobacteria-Synechococcus

Cyanophya-Trichodesmium

Prochlorophyta

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 megaplankton(20-200cm) macroplanton(2-20cm)
mesoplankton(.2-20 mm) microplankton(20-200 um)
Size classifications of Plankton nanoplankton (2-20um)

picoplankton(.2-2um)

femtoplankton (0.02-.2um)

caused by rapid increases of dinoflagellate populations of

Toxic effects of dinoflagellates sufficient magnitude to color the seawater a dull red-
brown Protogonyaulax, Gonyaulax, Gymnodinium

Macronutrients: C, N, P, S

Photosynthesis
Micronutrients: Na, Cl, SO4, Fe, Zn, Cu

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 Herbivores, filter feeders and predators, Very diverse
(almost all animal phyla represented, as well as many
protists) Nanoplankton through Megaplankton

Choanoflagellates-nanoplankton

Heterokonts-Most are algae, ranging from the giant

multicellular kelp to the unicellular diatoms, which are a
primary component of plankton.

Ciliates-group of protozoans characterized by the

presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are
identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella

Zooplankton Hydrozoans

Siphonophores-in hydrozoans

Cubozoa-square profile, 4 tenticles, swarm, true eyes

Scyphozoa- typical jellyfish

Ctenophora-comb jelly, uses ctenes for locomotion

Salps- filter feeder, large colonies

Appendicularia

Copepods-most important metazoan zooplankton

Euphausia-krill, gills external to carapace

Pteropoda-planktonic opisthobranch snails

Productivity of the EpipelagicChaetognatha-arrow

Organisms worms
 prosome(body), ocelli-eye, feeding legs, swimming legs, 1
Copepod Anatomy
antenna, urosome(tail)

four types of stages:

egg

larva (nauplius) 6 stages

juvenile(copepodite) 5 stages

Copepod Life Cycle

adult

continuous sexual reproduction (tropics)

discountinuous (high latitudes)

when referencing animal dormancy, is the delay in

Diapause development in response to regularly and recurring
periods of adverse environmental conditions

products of sexual reproduction of rotifers and copepods.

resting eggs These eggs can enter diapause and withstand drying,
freezing, etc.

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 Have ability to propel themselves independently of water
currents (high Re)

Vertebrates: Fishes, mammals, reptiles and birds

Inverts: Cephalopod molluscs

Osteichthyes-bony fish (toothed)

Nekton Chondricthyes-sharks and rays (baleen)

Mammalia

Odontocetes-whales

Mysticetes-whales

Cephalopoda-molluscs (squid,octopus,nautilus),
predators

l=l0e(-kλz)

k-extinction coefficient

λ-wavelength

Light Dissipation with Depth Beer's law describes how the intensity (I) of light is altered
as it is transmitted through a liquid. The intensity of the
light falls exponentially as the light passes through the
liquid

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 Reducing Density:

Heavy ion exclusion=Replace denser salt ions with lower-

density ions without changing osmotic pressure,NH4+ vs.
Na+ (cranchid squids, dinoflagellates),Cl- vs SO4-3
(ctenophores, salps, heteropods)

Gas or liquid filled floats= Storage of less dense gas or

liquid to produce buoyancy,Gas bladders (Fishes, man-of-

Stokes Law war),Oil storage (copepods, diatoms)

Smallsize

- Decrease cross- sectional area

Bodyshape

- (flat vs. sphere) can increase surface area to volume ratio

(ctenophore, chaetognath)

Spines

- Increase surface area with little additional weight

(dinoflagellate, diatom, radiolarian)

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 High light intensity can damage photosynethetic proteins
suppressed at the surface due to photoinhibition

Increases at mid depths where light intensity is optimal.

Photosynthesis - Decreases with depth due to light limitation down to the

compensation depth

Loss of Light increases with latitude

diversity increases as succession progresses, most

phytoplankton succession
pronounced in mid to high latitudes

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 nutrients are typically limiting to phytoplankton growth,
species can't coexist in micropatches

dinoflagellates have the advantage in the summer when

nutrients are in surface waters

diatoms are distributed through out the water column

because they sink

cyanobacteria inhibits diatom populations

paradox of plankton

the auxotrophy of later species suggests that later species

cannot reach great abundance until the flowering of
earlier species

later species often are smaller in cell size and this surface
area that is exposed to nutrient uptake is increased

seasonal changes in dominance

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 Microorganismal planktonic diversity cannot be assayed
by use of visual techniques

Immunoflourescence is a useful immunological technique

to probe for phytoplankton species

Molecular techniques to identify microorganisms are now identified by DNA sequence

planktonic microorganismal probes and the polymerase chain reaction. rates of
diversity microbial processes can also be monitored by molecular
techniques such as microarray techniques and the real-
time polymerase chain reaction

there are many molecular probe techniques, and their

usefulness varies depending on the research problem.

Productivity of the Epipelagic Organisms

 oxygen techniques- the oxygen technique relies upon the
fact that oxygen is released in proportion to the amount
of photosynthesis

radiocarbon technique- the radiocarbon technique uses

the radioactive isotope 14C as a tracer in uptake of
bicarbonate during the process of photosynthesis

The pump and proble Fluorometer- the amount of

photosynthesis can be estimated by measuring the
Measuring Primary Productivity fluorescence obtained from phytoplankton active
photosystem II centers that have been exposed to a
sequence of light flashes.

Satellite color scanning and Productivity models- satellite

color scanners can crudely estimate relative standing
sticks of phytoplankton, which can in turn be used with
ocean surface data and productivity models to estimate
changes in primary productivity

Component of marine food webs in which dissolved

organic carbon and particulate organic carbon cycles
Microbial Loop
through bacteria and nanoplankton then back to small
Productivity of the Epipelagicmembers
Organisms
of the zooplankton.
 gas bladder, lipid stores, air in fur/feathers, heavy ion
replacement, hydrodynamic lift(pectoral fins, residual
Nekton Adaptions weight, heterocercal tail)

adapted to minimize drag, laterally compressed body,

blunt tail, recessed fins, turbulent boundary layer

Limiting Factors on Primary light, temperature, nutrients

production

compensation depth(rate of photosynthesis=rate of

respiration) mixing depth less than critical depth(total
Critical Depth Theory amount of production>total respiration)

critical depth (total production=total respiration)

below critical depth(total production<total respiration)

large temperature changes can the seasonal extremes of temperature have different
reduce physiological performance effects, depending upon the location of an individual
by affecting physiological within the latitudinal range of the species
integration