Transcript Examples of brown algae

Approximately 72% of the planet's surface is covered by salt water.
SALTS IN SEAWATER
7 Most Abundant Salts in Sea-Water!
1. NaCl (sodium chloride) = 77.8%
2. MgCl2 (magnesium chloride) = 10.9%
3. MgSo4 (magnesium sulphate) = 4.7%
4. CaSo4 (calcium sulphate) = 3.6%
5. K2So4 (potassium sulphate) = 2.5%
6. CaCo3 (calcium carbonate) = 0.3%
7. MgBr2 (magnesium bromide) = 0.2%
1.
What biotic factors are present?
5. What producers are present?
2.
What abiotic factors are present?
6. What consumers are present?
3.
What decomposers are present?
7. What human factors may affect this
ecosystem?
4. Identify an overlapping terrestrial/aquatic food web.
Marine Ecosystem
OCEAN ZONES
The ocean is divided into zones according to how far down
sunlight penetrates.
Marine ecosystems vary depending on environmental conditions and the organisms that
live in them.
1. Why are producers mainly found in the “photic zone”?
2. Why is the ocean floor so rich in nutrients?
.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/environment-news/us-ocean-floor-mapping-vin/ 5:11 Sonar & ROV technology
(Light only penetrates through the photic zone.)
Organisms within each of the zones are specially adapted to the environment.
Plants are found only in the sunlit zone where there is enough light for
photosynthesis. Animals are found at all depts.
Upwelling: The most productive fisheries in the world are usually associated
with coastal upwelling zones where deep, cold, nutrient rich waters move
upward. These nutrient rich waters are utilized by phytoplankton which form
the base of the food chain for many fish.
Satellite images are used to monitor Earth. The satellite image below shows areas of
upwelling.
Hydrothermal Vents
Seawater, found in cracks in the ocean
bottom, is heated by volcanic activity and it
becomes less dense and rises.
-In many vent areas the super heated water
rises quickly from the ocean bottom with so
many minerals that it appears black.
-As it rises from the seafloor some of the
minerals precipitate out and form a 'chimney'
around the water vent.
-These chimneys may grow to over 40 feet
high while venting the black mineral-rich
heated water. This is what is called a 'black
smoker' area.
This diagram shows how seawater is modified by chemical
exchange with the surrounding rocks (blue arrows) and
gas-rich magmatic fluid (red arrows) mix before emerging at
the seafloor. Manganese, iron, iron oxyhydroxide, carbon
dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, methane and helium-3 are
released into the black smoker plume as the hot
hydrothermal fluids mix with cold seawater.
Chemosynthesis
- The chemosynthetic vent
bacteria are the base of the food
chain at hydrothermal vents.
- Vent bacteria are capable of
producing 'cell food' by
chemosynthesizing the minerals
(especially sulfur compounds) in
the water.
- Vents are areas where the
seawater has extreme
concentrations of dissolved
minerals and these bacteria use
them to manufacture 'cell food.'
- As the bacteria bloom there are
a large number of filter feeders
that exist here (feather duster
worms, mussels and clams) and
feed on the bacteria in the water.
Instead of photosynthesis, vent ecosystems derive their energy from chemicals in a process
called "chemosynthesis." Both methods involve an energy source (1) carbon dioxide and (2)
water to produce sugars (3). Photosynthesis gives off oxygen gas as a byproduct, while
chemosynthesis produces sulfur (4).
Hydrothermal Vent Biodiversity
(Extremophiles are organisms living in extreme conditions.)
Large tube worms over six feet long are one of the most visible animals at the vents. These tube
worms, secrete a thick paper-like white tube along their body. The worm does not have a mouth
or gut instead they rely on mutualistic symbiotic bacteria living in their tissues to produce the
'cell food' needed to keep them alive. It is believed these worms are some of the fastest growing
invertebrates known.
Vent crab with mussels and tube worms
Scavengers, like
crabs and shrimp,
also are found here
along with fish and
octopus.
Hydrothermal Life: Clams and Mussels
Numerous large clams and a small clump of mussels (bottom left) line the cracks
between the pillow lavas at the new hydrothermal vent site.
Deep sea symbiosis: A hermit crab uses an anemone as a shell.
Technology to Study the Deep Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEY3fN4N3D8 2:49 pressure increase
ROPOS's manipulator arm collecting a sulphide chimney at CASM vent with a deep sea
crab in the foreground (crab was left at the vent site).
Cold Seeps
• Cold SeepsCold Seeps
Remotely operated vehicles and
submersibles enable humans to
explore the deep ocean.
• Cold seeps are shallow areas on
the ocean floor where gases
percolate through underlying
rock and sediment layers and
emerge on the ocean bottom.
• The gases found in the seep are
methane and sulfur-rich gases
and sediments releasing
petroleum.
• Active seeps are located in
subduction zones, which are
areas where continental plates
are being pushed.
Cold Seep Environment
Comparing Locations of Hydrothermal Vents and Cold Seeps
Located near subduction zones)
Gasses in the Marine Environment
Seawater has many different gases dissolved in it, especially nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. It exchanges these gases
with the atmosphere to keep a balance between the ocean and the atmosphere. This exchange is helped by the mixing of
the surface by wind and waves.
Gases and life: Dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide are vital for marine life.
- Marine plants use dissolved carbon dioxide, sunlight and water to make carbohydrates through the process of
photosynthesis. This process releases oxygen into the water. All marine organisms use oxygen for respiration, which releases
energy from carbohydrates and has carbon dioxide and water as byproducts. Marine animals with gills, such as fish, use
these organs to extract oxygen from the seawater.
Variation in dissolved gases: Some of the properties of seawater affect how much gas can be dissolved in it:
- Cold water holds more gas than warm water. You will have seen this with bottles of lemonade, which are basically carbon
dioxide in water. Example: Warm lemonade cannot hold its gas, so as soon as you open a bottle of it, the carbon dioxide
leaves the water in a big spray of bubbles. It is less messy to open a cold bottle of lemonade.
- Seawater with low salinity holds more gas than high salinity water.
- Deep water, which has a high pressure, holds more gas than shallow water.
- The use and creation of dissolved gases by living things can over-ride the effect of these properties. For example, warm
water with lots of plankton in it can hold more carbon dioxide than cold water with few living things in it.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide is one of the most important gases that dissolve in the ocean.
- Some of it stays as dissolved gas, but most reacts with the water to form carbonic acid or reacts with carbonates already in
the water to form bicarbonates. This removes dissolved carbon dioxide from the water.
- Many plants and animals use the bicarbonate to form calcium carbonate shells. When these organisms die, some of the
bicarbonate is returned to the water, but a lot of it settles down to the sea bed.
- If the ocean and atmosphere stayed the same, there would be a balance between the concentrations of carbon dioxide in
each, but carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rising, so more of the gas is dissolving in the ocean.
Ocean Plant Life: Eelgrass
Eelgrass, Zostera marina, is a flowering, marine vascular plant that remains submerged
all the time. Eelgrass creates and extremely important habitat, its upright structures
and complex root system create a 3-D living space for many different types of animals.
Ocean Plant Life: Kelp
Kelp growing in the ocean. Human-caused atmospheric nitrogen
compounds are carried by wind and deposited into the ocean, where
they act as a fertilizer and lead to increased production of marine plant
life.
Algae or Plankton… What is the difference?
There are several thousand known species of algae in the world and they occur in
many different colors and forms. Algae can for instance be green, blue-green, brown,
red or black.
Some types of algae will drift around in the water, while others grow attached to a
surface, e.g. a rock, coral or plant leaf. There are also types of algae that float on the
surface since this is the place where they can receive the most light.
In everyday speech, algae are commonly divided into three main groups based on
appearance: microscopic algae, filamentous algae and attached-erect algae.
Microscopic algae
Microscopic algae waft along freely in the water. They form the autotrophic part of the
plankton, the diverse group of drifting organisms that inhabits the pelagic zone of
everything from oceans to small bodies of water. Microscopic algae are commonly
referred to as phytoplankton.
Types of Algae
- Marine algae, more commonly known as seaweeds, come in all
shapes and sizes.
- Algae are not plants, even though they sometimes look like
them.
- They are all referred to as algae, the red, green and brown algae
are classified into three different kingdoms: the protists,
chromists and plantae.
- The algae all have cell wall structures and are capable of
photosynthesis like our plants on land.
Brown Algae
Brown algae is the largest type of algae. It is brown or yellowbrown in color and found in temperate or arctic waters. Brown
algae typically have a root-like structure called a "holdfast" to
anchor the algae to a surface.
Examples of brown algae: kelp, rockweed (Fucus), Sargassum.
Red Algae
Red algae are reddish or purplish in color. There are about 6,000
species of red algae and they are protists in the phylum Rhodophyta.
Red algae species range from simple one-celled organisms to
complex, multi-celled, plant-like organisms. Red algae get their
energy from photosynthesis. One thing that distinguishes red algae
from other algae is that their cells lack flagella.
Green Algae
There are more than 4,000 species of green algae. Green algae may
be found in marine or freshwater habitats, and some even thrive in
moist soil. These algae come in 3 forms: unicellular, colonial or
multicellular.
Examples of green algae: sea lettuce (Ulva sp.), which is commonly
found in tide pools, Codium sp., one species of which is commonly
called "dead man's fingers."