Aquatic invert biodiversity

David bourne

Habitats / how biodiversity changes between environments

- BioDiversity refers to the variety of all life on earth, relationship among living things,
between living things in their environment
- 70% water on our planet
- Over 50% of humans live in coastal zone, draw 90% of our marine resources from this
region
- Fishing
- Extraction of minerals
- Goods
- Employment
- Education
- recreation/ natural beauty
- Invertebrate biodiversity is important bc 97% of animals are inverts
- Hydrothermal vents -> coral reefs -> intertidal habitats

Hydrothermal vents
- In 1977 scientists examining plates in galapagos discovered life and it changed
everything
- Exotic life around vents
- Sunlight and plants drive food webs but not all the time
- Before 1977 thought light drove all life
- Because it is a bacteria-based food chain!
- Photosynthesis only happens in euphotic zone, up to 70 meters down
- Bacteria = primary producers, fueled by chemicals
- Hydrothermal vents
- 400 C next ot vent, 2C away from vents
- Huge array
- Can be 20 m tall
- Can also be methane cold seeps, also drives biodiversity
- 700 known vents, ephemeral, only last 20-100 years
- Surrounded by alot of organisms that have never been seen before
- 95% of species are endemic to hydrothermal vents
- Important physiological, morphological, ecological adaptations
- Often form mid ocean ridges
- Magma rises and cracks ocean floor
- Seawater drains into fractures and becomes superheated , dissolving minerals,
concentrations sulfur and other compounds
 - Find
- Gastropods
- Ocean deserts around vents , 2m away
- Blind shrimps
- Asteroidea - sea stars
- Crabs - crusteacea
- Bivalves
- Vestimentiferan worms
- Unique biodiversity
- More than 300 species have been found, 95% new to science
- New species discovered on avg every 10 days since 1977
- Feeding types at hydrothermal vents
- 3 main ways
- Animals feeding on the free living bacteria (like limpets)
- Form cyanobacteria mats
- Gain nutrients from internal bacterial symbionts like clams
- Predators like fish eating crabs
- Bacterial food source and how its used
- Chemosynthesis, hydrogen sulfide
- Amphipods and copepods - eat bateria
- Mussels - rely on bacterial symbionts in gills
- Bivalves - filter feeders of bacteria in water
- Squat lobsters- eat bacteria and animals
- Brachyuran crabs - predators , feed on bivalves, shrimps, polychaeates
- Predators - like octopus
- Riftia, pogonophora (worm) live around vents
- Phylum verstimentifera
- Endemic to vents
- Large, 1m long
- Obtain nutrients from bacterial symbionts
- Bacteria oxidize hydrogen sulfide
- Dee[ sea gold rush - mining the vents - loss of biodiversity
- Threat from mining companies
- Rich in copper, gold, silver, zinc make them attractive to miners
- Battery power
- Unlikely to be environmentally friendly
- Gold- papua new guinea - solwara 1

Coral reefs
- Est 2 million species
- <.2% of oceans sea floor, more than 25% of marine life
- Above 50 m but also metaphotic reefs down to 140 m
- Clear water - photosynthesis
- Water >20C
 - Hard substrate for attachment
- Deep sea reefs
- Down to 6000 m, where water is icy cold 1C and light dim or absent
- Deep sea corals just as diverse
- Chemosynthesis and obtaining energy and nuts from trapping tiny organisms in
passing currents
- Really slow growing
- Vulnerable to disturbances
- Healthy reefs grow 3-7mm/year
- Lots of threats

Intertidal habitats
- Area between high and low tide
- Divided into many zones
- Tides , constantly changing
- Animals adapted
- Where an animal is located is related to their tolerance limits and adaptations
- Mostly shelled organisms get more exposed
- Soft body organisms dont get exposed to air and direct sun
- Spray zone
- Highest zone, kept damp thru wave splash
- Low diversity
- Few gastropods
- High timezone
- Exposed for long
- Covered by high tide only
- Barnacles
- Mid tide zone
- More favorable
- Oysters, limpets, etc
- Exposed for longer
- Tides are regular and predictable variations in sea level, caused by gravitational pull of
moon and sun
- Townsville gets ~2m tide, not extreme
- Broome gets 10m tides
- Problems at low tide
- High summer temps
- Seek relief, burrow into sediment
- Little feeding at low tide
- Seeking refude , many species filter feeders and need to be covered by
water
- Reproduction
- Generally occurs at high tide, broadcast spwaners (need water)
- Rocky shore and sandy shore have difference in diversity
- Animal needs
- Substrate stability
- Food availability
- Threats
- Habitat destruction
- Pollution
- Invasions
- Over exploitation
- Climate change
- Coastal restoration
- Bringing back oyster reefs
- Esp in US
- Living sea walls
- Mangroves
- Smelly
- Less view
- Bad for coast, erodes
- Bad for biodiversity
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