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Life in the Ocean: Understanding Major Organism Groups

Dive into the intricacies of ocean life, exploring plankton, nekton, and benthos. Learn about phytoplankton, zooplankton, and the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems. Discover the wonders of benthic organisms living in various habitats, from rocky shores to deep-sea coral reefs. Delve into the distribution of life in the ocean and the importance of balance for a thriving marine environment.

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Life in the Ocean: Understanding Major Organism Groups

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  1. Life in the Ocean Major groups of organisms in ocean Plankton Nekton Benthos

  2. Organisms (in general) • Plankton: floaters • Nekton: swimmers • Won’t deal with these much in this course • Comments on fisheries • Benthos: bottom dwellers

  3. Plants vs. animals • Phytoplankton • Carry on photosynthesis • Diatoms, coccolithophores, dinoflagellates • Zooplankton • Consumers • Radiolarians, forams, others

  4. PHYTOPLANKTON

  5. ZOOPLANKTON

  6. Time as a planktonic organism • Meroplankton vs. holoplankton • Part of life as a plankton • Part of life as nekton or benthos • Examples (oysters, barnacles, crabs, fish egg)

  7. Nekton • Many varieties • Consider commercial fisheries

  8. Commercial fisheries • Changes in last 50 years • Overfishing • Causes: human population, changes in fishing practices, environmental degradation, poor management. by-catch • Solutions: close fishing areas, marine sanctuaries, tighter regulations, consumer choices (http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx)

  9. Aquaculture • A solution to overfishing? • Pros and cons

  10. Benthos • Rocky shores • Tide pools • Sand and mud • Deep sea • Coral reefs Just a few examples

  11. Where benthic organisms live • Epifuana • Live on top of sediments • Examples (barnacles, starfish, crabs) • Infauna • Live within sediments • Examples (clams, worms)

  12. Epifauna

  13. Infauna (a, b, c, e)

  14. Why these patterns? Land 86% Sea 14% Benthic 98% Pelagic 2% DISTRIBUTION OF LIFE

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