ocean habitatsandtheir biota- raleigh charter high school（海洋habitatsandtheir生物群-罗利特许高中）.docVIP

Ocean Habitats and their Biota 13-1. Biology of the Continental Shelf A. The waters of the neritic zone (over the continental shelf) are fertile and support a rich community of organisms. The plankton are floaters and weak swimmers which are helplessly transported by ocean currents. Phytoplankton: photosynthetic Zooplankton: not photosynthetic Sorted by size: pico, micro, etc… KNOW THESE 2. Nekton have the ability to swim against currents and actively search for a more hospitable environment. B. Because the water column is shallow in the sublittoral zone (intertidal), physical factors regulate the number, type, and distribution of benthic (bottom dwellers) organisms. 1. Bottom energy is a function of wave energy and tidal currents and these vary inversely with depth. 2. The sea floor can be divided into two areas based upon the energy of the environment: High energy environments and Low energy environments. 3. Bottom energy affects organisms by: moving sediment about and creating an unstable substrate, controlling sediment size. 4. Bottom sediment strongly influences the feeding mode of benthic communities. 5. The two major benthic communities based upon substrate are: Hard-bottom community and Soft-bottom community 13-2. Biology of the Open Ocean and the Deep Sea C. The open ocean (pelagic zone) is the largest habitat on Earth, but life is sparse because of low nutrient concentration and great depth (lack of light). 1. In the open ocean, diversity is high but the number of individuals per species is low. 2. The only seaweed in the open ocean sea is sargassum gulfweed. It floats. 3. The major phytoplankton are diatoms, dinoflagellates and coccolithophores and the major zooplankton are foraminifera and radiolaria. a. Diatoms dominate the shallow coasts, but decrease in abundance seaward. 4. Top predators are mackerel, squid, jellyfish, tuna, porpoise, shark, and man. 5. In the dysphotic zone (partial light), seasonal heating is minimal and conditions tend to be