Study Guide Unit #2 – Ecology of Marine Ecosystems

Study Guide Unit #2 – Ecology of Marine Ecosystems
Name:____________________
Essential Skills
I. Be able to explain the science of ecosystems using terms such as community, population, habitats,
microhabitat, and niche.
II. Be able to explain why the nitrogen cycle is a limiting factor for marine organisms.
III. Be able to explain biotic and abiotic differences between ecosystems found in the open sea, along the coasts, in
the poles and in the deep ocean.
Review Questions
1. Define the following:
a. Ecosystem -
b. Community -
c. Population -
d. Habitat -
e. Microhabitat -
f. Niche -
2. Explain how the flow of energy through a food web affects an ecosystem.
3. Which nutrient cycle is the basis of all biomass in all the ecosystems on Earth? Why?
4. Which nutrient cycle is thought to be limited in marine ecosystems compared to terrestrial? Why?
5. Why are coastal ecosystems so highly productive? What human made causes are decreasing this productivity?
6. What is eutrophication and why is it such a big threat to organisms?
7. What are the main jobs of the estuary?
8. Describe the types of primary producers in the salt marsh and how they have adapted to the habitat.
9. Describe the types of producers in the mudflat community.
10. Describe how the heterotrophs/animals in the mudflat environment are able to access different food types.
11. What are the abiotic conditions that challenge marine ecosystems in the polar seas?

12. Where are the most productive areas of the Arctic Ecosystem located? Why?
13. Where are the most productive areas of the Antarctic Ecosystem located? Why?
14. Explain how upwelling relates to the Antarctic seas being some of the most productive marine ecosystems.
15. Where does most of the deep ocean get its nutrients from?
16. What are the abiotic conditions that cause very, very little primary productivity in the deep ocean?
17. Describe the stages of a whale fall.
18. Describe how life exists around the hydrothermal vents. Be sure to include the producers and how they get
their energy, the consumers, and how they get their energy.
19. Describe organisms that make up the neuston, plankton (include the different types).
20. Describe the small, medium and large organisms that make up the nekton in the open ocean ecosystem.
21. What makes these nekton successful, and how do they defend themselves against potential predators?