2012-01-05

Lecture 1: Basic Marine Ecology

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The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else - Barry Commoner Ecology the study of the interrelationships between organisms and their environment, and other organisms. It addresses how species, populations, communities and ecosystems adapt to a set of challenges: Adaptation to the environment Acquisition of energy and matter Interaction with other organisms Acquisition and maintenance of territory Reproduction Species: a natural group of interbreeding individuals that is reproductively isolated from other groups. Population: all of the individuals of a given species in an area. Community: several different populations of species that tend to occur together in a particular geographical area. Ecosystem: a community together with surrounding physical and chemical environments. Can be considered on a large scale (Earth), or a small scale (a puddle) Abiotic factors influence biotic communities, which in turn influence abiotic factors Consider the following questions: What are the physical and chemical properties of the environment? How does energy flow through the ecosystem? How does matter cycle within the ecosystem? How has life adapted to contend with the opportunities and challenges in the ecosystem? Many environmental factors affect marine organisms: Physical: Temperature Pressure Currents Light Waves Substrate (bottom surface) Suspended sediment Chemical: Salinity Nutrients Dissolved gases

Energy capture, energy use, and energy transfer are fundamental to the functioning of an ecosystem: In most marine ecosystems the sun is the source of energy Autotrophs capture energy and store that energy in the chemical bonds of organic materials Heterotrophs gain energy by consuming autotrophs, organisms that have eaten other organisms, or the byproducts of autotrophs.

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A trophic structure is an arrangement of organisms according to their method of energy acquisition, where each successive level is known as a trophic level. Autotrophs occupy the first trophic level; while, heterotrophs occupy higher trophic levels Most energy transferred to a trophic level is used for metabolic needs or is lost as heat, leaving roughly 5-20% for transfer to the next level Trophic systems are self limiting in that at a certain point, not enough energy remains to be passed on to the next level. Some familiar names apply to the various trophic levels: Herbivores consume autotrophs Carnivores consume heterotrophs Omnivores consume autotrophs and heterotrophs Decomposers gain energy by breaking the chemical organic bonds in dead organisms and make organic materials available again to other organisms. They exist on every trophic level. Within each trophic level or population, the amount of living material at a given instant is called the standing crop When energy is used to describe trophic structure, production rates are calculated. (Standing crop and production rates are not the same.) (Remember units are energy/area/time) Fundamental repeatable pathways for trophic transfer exist in ecosystems: Each path that transfers energy from a given autotroph to a given series of consumers is called a food chain. The combination of all food chains in a given community, or ecosystem is called a food web. Energy flows, but matter cycles: Energy flows through an ecosystem, ultimately all dissipating as heat The supply of matter to an ecosystem is finite, and elements are used again and again Certain substances are vital to life: Water, carbon, phosphorous (phosphates), nitrogen (nitrates), and an energy source. Biogeochemical cycles is the cycling back and forth of chemical elements and compounds in systems with organisms. All contain a major reservoir or pool of the element, to which it continually enters and leaves All contain a major sink to which the element moves, but is not recycled in the normal

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course of events, but may be tapped by a geological event Usually exist in a form of equilibrium The carbon cycle: Reservoir: carbon dioxide Sink: heavy carbonate materials such as shells are deposited in deep oceans as calcareous sediments The phosphorous cycle: Reservoir: phosphate rock Sink: skeletal material that accumulate as deep sea sediments The nitrogen cycle: Reservoir: air Sink: some loss as deep sediments

Phosphorous cycle Nitrogen cycle

Niche is the role of an organism in a community. Realized niches deal with food, space, breeding sites etc. Habitat: the place where an organism is found Interactions between organisms take many forms: Predation: consumption of one species by another Grazing: consumption of sessile, autotrophs by heterotrophs Competition for light, nutrients, water, food, habitat and mates: interaction among organisms to obtain a necessary resource that exists in limited supply Competitors either share, or one excludes the other (competitive exclusion principle) Parasitism: organisms living in or on other organisms to obtain nourishment and or shelter Symbiosis

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Larvae are vital to the acquisition of space in marine ecosystems, and the establishment of communities and associations: Larvae are independent, morphologically different stages that develop from fertilized eggs Larvae undergo profound change before assuming adult features Nearly always considerably smaller than their adult counterparts Larvae are usually small and easily transported by water There are three reproductive paths that a species can take: 1. Planktotrophic larvae: a large number of small eggs are laid to hatch quickly into larvae in the free swimming plankton. Because so little yolk is put into each egg, the larvae spend a lot of time in the plankton to feed. Advantages: a large amount of offspring can be produced with given energy and dispersal is ensured Disadvantages: larvae are dependent on plankton situation, which is unreliable, and full of predators 2. Lecithotrophic larvae: a smaller number of eggs are produced with a larger yolk. The larvae that hatch feed on the yolk reserve and d not spend much time feeding in the plankton. They use the plankton phase mainly for their own dispersal. Advantages: smaller chance of being consumed in the plankton Disadvantages: fewer offspring, less dispersal, larger eggs are more visible to visual predators. 3. Nonpelagic or direct development: a few eggs with a large amount of yolk are produced. Offspring undergo their larval stage within the egg and then hatch as a nonpelagic larvae or juvenile. Advantages: no planktonic mortality Disadvantages: fewer offspring and no dispersal Larvae also have diverse settlement strategies: Larvae settlement and metamorphoses are responses to complex and specific environmental stimuli, including light, gravity, fluid movement, and chemical stimuli Larvae prefer to settle out where the presence of adult pheromones are present Larvae respond to light, pressure and salinity as well. Larvae have the ability to delay their metamorphoses until they detect a favourable substrate to settle out on. Overall life history strategies are bounded by two end members. Many other species may fall somewhere in between the two end members and posses qualities of both: 1. Opportunistic: (r-selected) have short life spans, rapid development to reproductive maturity, many reproductive periods each year, larvae continually present in the water column, and high death rates Usually small sessile animals Usually favoured in unstable habitats that

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are often disturbed. 2. Equilibrium: (k-selected) have long life spans, relatively long development time to reproductive maturity, one or more reproductive periods each year, and low death rates. Usually larger and more mobile than opportunists. Usually favoured in stable habitats that are not frequently disturbed. Often a mix of the two types of life history strategies are present in a given area because although equilibrium species colonize slower, they are often better competitors and will eventually push opportunistic species out of a given area.

An example of the distribution of different life history strategies over different environments: Wave action, and organisms frequently disturb the seafloor at the edge of the beach, so opportunistic species are likely to prevail The open water column undergoes less disturbance, so equilibrium species are more prevalent A mix of the two species occurs in between the two. The density of water relative to air produces profound differences between terrestrial and marine ecosystems: Sea water is 800 times more dense, so more stuff remains suspended Large organisms can remain afloat in the water column Marine ecosystems have a whole community of organisms, called the plankton, that are perpetually afloat. Thus, filter feeders are common in marine ecosystems Larvae are more important to dispersal in marine ecosystems Rigid support structures are not as necessary in marine ecosystems As a result of the suspension of a whole community in a bathing medium, it is more difficult to have isolated communities and isolated distributions of species. Pressure changes with a higher gradient at depth Water is more viscous than air, but it's viscosity decreases with added heat, whereas, that of air increases

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Attenuation of light and sound are different in water than in air: Water absorbs light more than air: Most light is absorbed between 200-400 m depth, so most of the ocean is perpetually dark Shorter wavelengths penetrate deeper than shallow ones. Vision is less important as a sense in large parts of the ocean Sound travels faster through water, (1,515 vs 346 m/s) so many marine organisms use sound to locate prey and mates They also must emit sound at 4 times a lower wavelength to detect something of the same size, since water increases the wavelength of sound by a factor of four Water has other differences from air: Water has a resistivity 10E16 times less than that of air. Water contains energy-rich compounds in the form of dissolved organic matter (DOM) Oxygen occurs at a much lower concentration and diffuses at 1/10000 the rate at which it diffuses through air Life in oceans is more diverse in higher taxonomic levels, though not necessarily at the species level Marine food chains tend to be larger and more complex than terrestrial food chains. Generally, the production of organic material is higher in terrestrial ecosystems, while the efficiency of transfer from first to second trophic levels is higher in marine ecosystems. The ocean is divided into ecological zones based on a variety of factors:

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1. Vertical divisions: Pelagic realm: open water Can be further subdivided based on light penetration: Photic/euphotic zone: the part of the pelagic realm that is lighted. Generally extend to 100-200 m depth. It is the zone of primary production. The pelagic part of the photic zone is known as the epipelagic zone Disphotic zone: transition between photic and aphotic zones that has enough light for vision, but not enough light for photosynthesis. Generally extends down to 1,000 m. Aphotic zone: permanently dark waters The pelagic part of the aphotic zone can be subdivided into the mesopelagic (ends between 700-1000 m in depth), the bathypelagic (ends between 20004000 m in depth), the abyssalpelagic (ends about 6000 m depth), and the deep oceanic trenches between 6000-10000m is known as the hadalpelagic zone). Benthic realm: comprising of organisms that dwell on or near the sea bottom. The benthic zone underlying the neritic pelagic zone on the continental shelf is the sublittoral/shelf zone The benthic zones that correspond to the the depths of the pelagic zones are the bathyal, abyssal, and hadal, zones. 2. Horizontal divisions: Neritic zone: encompasses water masses that overlie continental shelves Oceanic zone: includes all other open waters 3. The transition between terrestrial and marine zones is the intertidal or littoral zone. 4. The transition between marine and fresh water is known as estuaries.