Download Study Guide for OCEA 112 Final Examination

Study Guide for OCEA 112 Final Examination
This study guide covers only the last third of the course. Use the study guides for Midterms 1 and 2 to review the first
two thirds of the course
Coasts
Define the following parts of a beach: berm, foreshore, backshore, longshore bar.
What is the difference between a summer beach and a winter beach? What causes a beach to build or erode? What are
swash and backwash? How do they affect beach conditions? What happens to sand removed from the beach in the
winter?
What is the difference between an erosional coast and a depositional coast?
What are some of the features of an erosional coast? What is meant by shore straightening?
What are some of the features of a depositional coast?
Where does beach sand come from?
What is meant by longshore transport? How does a longshore current work?
What is a rip current?
What is a coastal cell?
Explain the following depositional features: sand spit, bay mouth bar, barrier island.
What are the different shapes of river delta. Why are there different shapes?
How do mangroves add to a coast line?
How does coral add to a coast line? Explain Darwin’s theory of atoll formation. What is the difference between a
fringing reef, a barrier reef, and an atoll?
What is an estuary? Classify estuaries according to origin (4 types) and give examples of each type. Now classify
estuaries in terms of their circulation patterns.
What is the difference between an emerging coast and a submerging coast? By and large, is the Pacific Coast of the
U.S. an emerging or submerging coast? Why? What about the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast?
What is a breakwater, a groin, and a seawall? What effect does each have on deposition and erosion?
Biological Classification Schemes, Natural Selection, and Evolution
Define taxonomy. Describe and explain the Linnean classification scheme. How does evolutionary theory relate to
this classification? In the species name Homo sapiens, what does Homo tell us and what does sapiens tell us?
What are the six kingdoms of life?
Explain the concept of natural selection, and compare it to the selective breeding of plants and animals by humans.
What is meant by adaptation in this context? How does sexual reproduction help species adapt to their environment?
What is the evolutionary need for adults to have lots of children?
What is DNA? What role does it play in taxonomy and in evolutionary theory? If two species have very similar
DNA, what does that tell us about them? Why does DNA make us think all life comes ultimately from one
ancestor?
Explain the nekton/plankton/benthos classification scheme for biological oceanography.
What are zooplankton? What are phytoplankton?
What is the difference between a heterotroph and an autotroph? How do animals fit into this classification? How do
plants? Briefly explain the notion of a food web. What is the 10% rule in the context of trophic relationships?
Biogeochemical Cycles
What does CHON stand for? Why are these four elements so important? Where do plants get their carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and nitrogen? In what forms is nitrogen available and unavailable to plants? How is the ammonium ion
created from dissolved nitrogen gas?
What is a biogeochemical cycle? Try drawing a simple one for carbon and one for nitrogen.
Life in Seawater: buoyancy, viscosity, temperature, diffusion ,osmosis, light, and pressure
What is meant by surface-to-volume ratio?
Why are there no whale-sized animals on land? Why can whale-sized animals exist in the ocean?
What is viscosity? What is drag? How does the shape of an organism affect its drag? How is drag related to surface
area? Should a plankter have a high or low surface-to-volume ratio? Why? Should such an organism be large or
small?
How does the thermal environment of the ocean compare to that of land in terms of 1) temperature range, 2) heat loss
of an organism to the environment? How does temperature affect chemical reaction rates? What organisms are
warm-blooded and what advantage does that confer on them? Why are most marine mammals large?
Study Guide for OCEA 112 Final Examination
What factors affect the rate of diffusion across a membrane? Why is diffusion significant to marine plants? Should an
organism that relies on diffusion have a large or small surface-to-volume ratio? Does this mean the organism should
be large, or small?
What is osmosis? Will water diffuse from a highly saline environment to a less saline environment, or vise-versa?
Why? What does this mean for a cell living in salt water? In fresh water? What happens to a freshwater organism
suddenly placed in salt water? What happens to a saltwater organism placed in freshwater?
What is meant by photic, aphotic, euphotic, and disphotic zones?
What effect does hydrostatic pressure have on organisms living in the deep ocean?
Explain convergent evolution, and give an example from the sea.
What are the following life zones in the ocean: Pelagic zone, neritic zone, littoral zone, benthic zone?
Marine Plants
What distinguishes algae from angiosperms (flowering plants)?
Under what conditions can a vascular plant operate in the ocean? Why are there so few vascular plant species in the
ocean? Give several examples of vascular plants living in the ocean.
To what kingdom of life do seaweeds belong? Why is this surprising?
What is meant by multicellular algae? What is a single-celled algae called in the ocean?
What are the three types of seaweed?
What are the best conditions for green algae? Name an example of green algae.
What are the best conditions for brown algae? What makes them brown? What does the brown pigment fucoxanthin
do for brown algae? What are the most familiar brown algae? Name several types.
Sketch and name the various parts of a kelp. Why is kelp confined to temperate and polar latitudes?
What characterizes red algae? Why are red algae red?
What is a diatom? What is a diatom’s shell (called a test or a frustule) made of? How is it constructed? What are the
advantages of this shell? How do diatoms reproduce? How do diatoms resist sinking out of the photic zone?
What is a coccolithophore? What is its shell made of?
What is a dinoflagellate? What is its shell made of? What distinguished most dinoflagellates? What is a red tide?
What is a harmful algal bloom(HAB)? What is paralytic shellfish poisoning?How and why do dinoflagellates
bioluminesce?
What are picoplankton? Why are they significant? Why did it take oceanographers such a long time to recognize their
significance?
What is meant by a limiting factor? What are the limiting factors for phytoplankton? Under what conditions do
phytoplankton populations increase?
What is the difference between photosynthesis and respiration?
Quantitative Biological Oceanography
How is biomass defined? What is unit biomass?
How is productivity defined?
Compare the total biomass and productivity of marine plants and terrestrial plants. In which environment is
productivity most efficient? Why?
How is phytoplankton biomass measured? How is productivity measured?
Where is primary productivity highest in the ocean: tropics, temperate zone, or polar waters? Why? Explain the
spring bloom.
Marine Invertebrate Animals
Phylum Porifera – Sponges. How do sponges get food and oxygen? What are the different types of cells in a sponge?
In what 3 ways do sponges get structural support? Why are sponges considered primitive and “evolutionary dead
ends”? How long has phylum porifera been on earth? Would you consider sponges “successful” from an ecological
and evolutionary perspective?
Phylum Cnidaria – Sea anemones, jellyfish, and corals. How do you pronounce cnidaria? What two body plans can
cnidarians have? What do all cnidarians have in common? How does a cnidarian’s stinging cell (also called a
cnidoblast or a pneumatocsyst) deliver its poison? Should we fear sea anemones? Should we fear sea wasps? Why
or why not? Describe some of the key attributes of coral. What is coral reef made of? What are zooxanthellae?
Describe the relationship between zooxanthellae and coral animals. What conditions do corals require for life?
Why are all cnidarians considered primitive?
Study Guide for OCEA 112 Final Examination
Phylum Ctenophora – Comb jellies. How do ctenophores move? Why do rainbows appear to flow down their bodies
as they move? How do ctenophores eat? Why are ctenophores environmentally so important?
Phylum Annelida – Segmented worms. What is a polychaete worm? Why are they more advanced than sponges, sea
anemones, and ctenophores?
Phylum Chaetognatha – Arrow worms. What do these guys look like? Why are these considered so important
ecologically?
Phylum Mollusca – Snails, clams, and octopus. What 3 classes of mollusks are there? What characteristics do all
mollusks share? What does the word gastropod mean? Why is it appropriate? What are some typical gastropods?
What do they eat? What does the word bivalve mean? What are some typical bivalves? What and how do they eat?
What does the word cephalopod mean? What are some typical cephalopods? What is the evidence that many
cephalopods are intelligent?
Phylum Arthropoda – Crustaceans. What are some typical benthic and planktonic examples of this phylum? What
does the word arthropod mean? Why is it appropriate for members of this phylum? What characteristics do all
arthropods share? Why are arthropods considered so successful?
Phylum Echinodermata – Sea Stars. What are the key characteristics of echinoderms? What are some typical
examples?
Phylum Chordata – Tunicates and Salps. Why are these animals considered chordates?
Marine Vertebrates
To what phylum do all marine vertebrates belong? What 4 main groups of marine vertebrates are there? What
characteristics do they all share?
What are the two main classifications of fish mentioned in the text? What are the characteristics of all fish?
Class Condrichthyes – Sharks and rays. How are the key characteristics of these fish? How do these animals keep
from sinking as they swim? What is the biggest shark in the ocean? What do great white sharks eat? What do
whale sharks eat?
Class Osteichthyes – Bony fish. What are the key characteristics of these fish? How do they keep from sinking as they
swim?
Why are reef fish often short and bulky, or long and eel like? Why are pelagic fish teardrop shaped, with a rigid body
and only a hinged tail that moves?
What advantage does a swim bladder confer on a fish? Do all fish have swim bladders? If not, then why not? Do
sharks have swim bladders?
How are fish gills designed? Compare their efficiency in extracting oxygen from water to that of air-breathing
mammals.
How do marine fish deal with osmosis? How do sharks and rays deal with it?
What is the lateral line? What is meant by countershading and cryptic coloration?
List some of the advantages of schooling.
Marine Reptiles – Class Reptilia
What are the 3 main groups within class Reptilia? What characterized all marine members of this class?
How are sea turtles different from their freshwater relatives? What do sea turtles eat? Comment on their homing
ability.
Marine Birds – Class Aves
What are the 4 main groups of seabirds? What characterized all members of this class? What makes a bird a seabird?
Why are tubenoses so named? How are these animals built, and what is so amazing about their behavior?
How are pelicaniformes built? How do they hunt?
How are gulls different from other seabirds? How are terns different from gulls? What great feat is an arctic tern
capable of?
What makes penguins unique? What adaptive features do they have for living in cold environments and for
swimming?
Marine Mammals – Class Mammalia
What are the 3 orders of marine mammals? What characterizes all members of class Mammalia? How have marine
mammals adapted to the marine environment?
Study Guide for OCEA 112 Final Examination
What anatomical features characterize all cetaceans? What are the two suborders of cetaceans? What is different
about the two suborders’ feeding styles? Why do toothed whales (odontocetes) have teeth and big brains? What
adaptive features do baleen whales (mysticetes) have for feeding?
Name some of the marine members of order Carnivora. What is the difference between a seal and a sea lion? Sea
otters are relatively small with little blubber. How do they keep warm? What and how much do they eat?
What are sirenians? What is their feeding style, and what do they eat? Why are they in danger in Florida?
Marine Ecology
Define the following ecological terms: Ecology, community, population, carrying capacity, limiting factor, abiotic
factor, biotic (or biological) factor, eurythermal, stenothermal, euryhaline, stenohaline.
Sketch a typical population growth curve and explain each feature.
Predator/prey relationships: What is a stable limit cycle and what causes it? What keeps a predator from wiping out its
prey entirely?
Competition: What are the two main forms of competition? How does intraspecific competition affect evolution? In
theory intraspecific competition should drive the less competitive species into extinction. What keeps this from
happening? What is meant by resource partitioning?
What is meant by symbiosis? What 3 forms were discussed in the text and in class? Give examples of each.
Species interactions can be classified as positive (+), negative (-), and neutral (0) for each species. There are 6 types
(+/+, etc.). List the 6 types of species interactions, and classify competition, predation, and the symbiotic
relationships using this scheme.
What are the three basic ways in which resources and organisms can be distributed spatially? Under what conditions
is each likely to occur? Which is the most likely in the ocean?
Discuss the notions of disturbance, succession, and climax in the context of community structure.
What is meant by biodiversity? Why is it generally considered a good thing?
Marine Communities
Epipelagic communities – How much of the ocean’s biomass is found in the epipelagic? Describe the Deep Scattering
Layer (DSL). What remarkable behavior does the DSL exhibit? Explain it. Where does the food come from that
feeds the epipelagic organisms?
Mesopelagic and bathypelagic communities – What do the animals look like in this community? The plants? What is
the ultimate source of food for these guys?
The following are benthic communities: Rocky intertidal, sandy beach, estuarine, coral reef, hydrothermal vents, and
general deep sea floor. How do they generally differ?
Rocky intertidal communities: What are the difficulties in living in a rocky intertidal community? Why then is there
such richness and diversity of life? What is the limiting factor? What resources generally not limited? How are
organisms able to partition the habitat?
Why are sandy beaches considered hostile environments for most marine organisms?
Why are estuaries generally so rich in life? Why are they called marine nurseries? What are some of the difficulties
associated with living in an estuary?
Why are coral reefs so rich in life and diversity?
Hydrothermal Vent Communities: Where does the food come from that feeds these communities? What is a tube
worm, and how does it get nourishment? What is unusual about the clams and shrimp living in these communities?
Deep sea floor communities away from vents: What is the advantage of living on the deep sea floor? What are some
of the hardships? How have organisms that live there adapted?
Deep rock communities: What is an extremophile? How is it possible for an organism to live deep within the rock?
What types of organisms do this?
Marine Resources
Where does oil come from originally? Under what conditions does oil form? What geological features would a
petroleum geologist look for in searching for oil?
What factors have contributed to the increase in commercial marine fish catch over the past 50 years? What is
happening today to the harvest, and why? Explain the following concepts in the context of fisheries: maximum
sustainable yield, bycatch (or bykill), commercial extinction.
What is mariculture? What are the advantages and risks associated with mariculture?
Study Guide for OCEA 112 Final Examination
What is the Law of the Sea? What famous document forms the foundation for the Law of the Sea? What are some of
the important features of the 1982 Draft Convention on the Law of the Sea? What is the difference between
territorial waters and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ)?
Environmental Concerns
What is meant by The Tragedy of the Commons? How does this notion relate to environmental problems such as
pollution and overfishing?
How do pollutants damage organisms and ecosystems? What factors govern the effect of a pollutant on an organism?
What is meant by the persistence of a pollutant? What is meant by biological amplification?
What are the biggest sources of oil pollution in the ocean? Even though tanker spills are not the biggest source, why
are tanker spills of such concern? Compare a spill of crude oil to a spill of refined oil in terms of 1) volume, and 2)
damage to the environment. What are some of the methods used for cleaning up a spill, and what approach
ironically appears to be the best? What happens to the various components of oil if the ocean deals naturally with
them?
Name 4 metals whose presence in the ocean appears to be 1) linked to human activity, and 2) bad for marine life.
Where do these metals come from (that is, what human activity put them into the ocean) and what is their specific
effect?
What does DDT do to the eggs of top avian predators like pelicans and ospreys? Why is it worse for them than for
organisms lower on the food chain?
What is meant by eutrophication? How is it that increased nutrients and biological production can actually lead to
anoxic (no oxygen) conditions? One location where this is occurring is the Gulf of Mexico. Why there? How can
eutrophication lead to harmful algal blooms?
Why is plastic a greater threat to marine life than paper? What is the actual danger of plastic in the marine
environment?
What are the dangers of introducing alien species to ecological communities? How do many of these species travel
around the world, and what is the human role in this?
Why are estuaries particularly sensitive to pollution? In what other ways are estuaries threatened?
What are the threats faced by coral reefs? What is coral bleaching?
What is ozone? What is the ozone layer? What role does the ozone layer play in protecting organisms from ultraviolet
(UV) solar radiation? What damage does UV radiation do to organisms? What are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and
where do they come from? How do they damage the ozone layer? Where is the ozone hole located? What has
humankind done about all this?
What is a greenhouse gas? What are examples of greenhouse gases? What is happening to CO2 levels in the
atmosphere? How long has this been going on? What is happening to the average temperature of the earth? Why
do we think there may be a connection between CO2 levels and Earth’s temperature? What are the potential
consequences of a global increase in Earth’s temperature? What can we do about it? What should we do about it?
What happened on Easter Island, and what hint should we take?