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Habitat vs. Niche A habitat of an organism can be defined as the area where it lives or for example its house. The niche is an ideology of how the organism lives and survives. This could be the organism’s ‘job’ or lifestyle. A habitat is its physical pace in nature, while niche is a kind of activity performed by organisms. An example is sharks’ niche for the ocean is they keep populations of other fish healthy and in proper proportion for their ecosystem. The habitat for sharks varies based on the type but some habitats consist of shallow waters, deep waters, while some stay on the ocean floor in the open waters.
A predator is an organism that eats another organism. The prey is the organism which the predator eats. The terms predator and prey are almost always used when discussing animals that eat animals, but it also applies to animals that eat plants, such as fish eating algae. And animal eating animal would be a fish eating worms or insects. Predator and prey evolve together. The prey is a part of its predator’s environment. The predator has to adapt so it is able to get the food it needs to stay alive. The prey evolves to do whatever it takes to not be eaten whether it is camouflage or poison to spray when the predator comes.
Sea Turtles role Sea turtles have a job in grazing the seagrass, controlling sponge distribution, feasting on jellyfish, and transporting nutrients to other marine life. The predator’s sea turtles have to be aware of in the ocean are mostly large sharks and killer whales. Sea turtles mainly eat the seagrass and algae. The tiny animals play a great role in the vast ocean.
Adaptations to live In the ocean Sea turtles have a number of adaptations to help them to survive in the ocean. The shell of a sea turtle is flat to increase their ability to swim quickly. Their legs are elongated into paddle-like flippers. Turtles have more than one lung located on top of their shells for breathing. The sea turtles have eyes on the top of their heads to help them see what is coming from above or any near food. The turtles have good night vision because they need it for the dark waters in the ocean. The turtles have webbed arms and legs to help them swim through the water. They also have had shells to protect their bodies.
Sea Turtles
What is done to protect the turtles? Sea turtles are given legal protection in the U.S. and its waters under the endangered Species Act. They make it illegal to harm, harass, or kill any sea turtles, hatchlings, or their eggs. It is also illegal to sell, import, or transport turtles. Other people are also trying to make decisions at home or on their own that can affect the ocean life. Some people are trying to use less plastic for example, so it stays out of the oceans which arms the sea animals.
Interesting facts! Sea turtles are ocean lawnmowers! They have a more plant-based diet and eat seagrass. By keeping the seagrass short they prevent it from getting tall and harming other marine creatures. Sea turtles have been around for a very long time. It has been an estimated 110 million years that sea turtles have existed on earth. Temperature dictates the gender of baby Sea turtles can hold their breath for turtles. five hours underwater. Warmer nests lead to more females and To do this they slow their heart rate to cooler waters lead to more males. up to nine minutes in between heart rate to conserve oxygen. They live to about 100 years. That is also roughly the amount of eggs they lay every time they nest.
Levels of organization
An individual is an organism within a species. A species is a group of individuals that are genetically related and can breed to produce fertile offspring. A population is a group of organisms belonging to the same species that live in the same area and interact with one other. A community is all of the populations of different species that live in the same area and interact with one another. An ecosystem includes the living organisms in an area and the nonliving aspects of the environment. The biosphere is the part of the planet with living organisms.
Demography
Demography is the study of human population size, density, distribution, movement, birth rates, and death rates.
Factors that affect the human population: • • • • • •
Birth rate Death rate Food production Eradicated diseases Infant mortality Increased medical technology
The age structures are demonstrated on a graph like this one. There are age groups going up the y-axis and the graph is divided on the x axis by male and females. One half of the graph is the male population and the other half of the graph is the girl population.
This is a graph that demonstrates a growing population. You can tell the population is growing because there are more younger people than older. The younger population is more likely to have offspring.
This graph demonstrates a shrinking population. Many of the people in this population are old which means they are less likely to have offspring to keep the population increasing. This is a graph that represents a stable population because the age groups are relatively even. No dramatic increase or decrease in age groups within the given population.
Coral Reefs What is being done to protect the reefs?
The fish that help take care of coral are parrotfish along with some other grazing fish. The government authorized targeted fishing for parrotfish in earlier years. Earth justice sued the government for allowing fishing to these species. There are some businesses raising money to help save the coral reefs. 4ocean.com is an example that raises awareness hoping people will try to keep their beaches clean and do what they can to protect the beautiful reefs. The National Ocean service also provides ways people can keep in mind to protect the coral reefs.
Role in food web? The coral reefs have to live close to the surface of water, so they can collect light energy from the sun. The organisms create their own food from the suns energy. Coral reefs use a process called photosynthesis. In this ecosystem the primary producers are plankton and algae. The main role the reefs play is protecting coastlines from the damaging effect of wave action and tropical storms. They also provide habitats and shelter for many marine animals.
Adaptations
The coral polyps attach themselves to a hard substrate, so they will be able to remain there for life. They live in places where they can stay planted in the ocean. They have the adaption of using photosynthesis to create their own food from sunlight. Since they need sunlight they have adapted to living in shallow waters, so the sunlight can reach them.
Fun facts • Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean but are home to almost 25% of all known marine animals. • Coral reefs are the largest structures on earth of biological origin. • Coral grows very slow, at the rate of 2 cm per year. • Each individual coral is known as a polyp. • There are thousands of polyps in each coral colony.
Biodiversity Where do you see the most biodiversity throughout the world and in the ocean? The most biodiversity is found in the tropical rainforest. There are several species that live in the rainforests. Within the ocean the most biodiverse place is found in the marine species living on coral reefs. An estimated 25 percent of all marine’s species live on them, making them one of the most diverse habitats in the world. Life in the ocean is not evenly distributed. It is very diverse because of many factors. One for example the availability of sunlight dictates where some animals need to live in the ocean.
Biodiversity is important because it boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.
Biodiversity is the variation of species in a specific area.
Where do you see the least biodiversity in the world?
The arctic biome because there is little to nothing that grows in ground that is frozen year-round. Covered in ice, most of the region experiences deeply cold temperatures. There is little variation in this biome.
Feeding relationships
Producers are organisms who make or produce their own food. Plants are an example of producers. In the ocean coral reefs are an example because they make their own food from energy from the sun.
Producers v. Consumers Consumers are organisms who get their food and energy from another organisms. An example of this is an animal eating an animal or an animal eating a plant. In the ocean sharks eat seals and fish eat algae.
What are the trophic levels?
What is the food chain?
Within the food chain there are trophic levels. Each of the hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, compromising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.
A food chain is a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.
A food web is a system of interlocking and interdependent food chain. This is an example of an ocean food chain.
Invasive species What is an invasive species? An invasive species is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. Invasive species can lead to the extinction of native plants and animals, destroy biodiversity, and permanently alter habitats through both direct and indirect effects.
An invasive species is both nonnative to the ecosystem in which it is found and capable of causing environmental, economic, or human harm because of its ability to spread rapidly and compete with native species. The ability to rapidly reproduce allows for the invasive species to invade quickly and effectively.
The invasive species can threaten preexisting species because they take the food the used before the took over or kill of many of those organisms. The invasive species have plants of organisms that need to eat which throws off the population of the organisms that were there first.
Invasive species in the ocean: • Lionfish o The females can lay up to 2 million eggs per year. • European Green crab o they eat anything their size or smaller and are primarily responsible for shutting down commercial clam harvesting in some of Maine. • Northern Pacific sea staro people have to rely on the physical removal and the use of traps to control their populations.
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