Download Census of Marine Life Lab

Biodiversity and the Census of Marine Life
Read about the Census of Marine Life.
http://www.coml.org/about-census
1.
Describe 5 items about the census that you find interesting.
Go to the Census of Marine Life – Marine Life Discoveries web site.
http://www.coml.org/discoveries/
New Species
Click on the New Species button.
Click on Giant sulfur bacteria.
2.
What is the mode of nutrition for the Giant sulfur bacteria?
3.
What is unique about the cellular nature of this organism?
4. The sites where filamentous bacteria were found are characterized by high and low
levels of what molecules?
5. What discrepancy might indicate that fossils of early life might have been
chemosynthetic bacteria?
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6.
Where, when, and how was this species of giant sulfur bacteria collected?
7. Check out two more of the new species on the New Species page. Describe three
interesting facts for each of these species.
Ecological Discoveries
Click on the Ecological Discoveries button.
8.
What was significant about the hydrothermal vent that was discovered?
9. What technology did scientists use to identify biological hot spots in the North
Pacific Ocean?
10. What is a biological hot spot?
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11. Why is it important to be able to predict where these hot spots occur?
12. What could be created to protect commercially valuable species? Why would these
boundaries change?
13. By how much was the estimate of biodiversity off by in the Gulf of Maine. What is
the current count of species?
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