Term
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Definition
(meaning 'open sea')
the water column from the surface to the greatest depths |
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Term
| What two features of the ocean are especially conducive to life? |
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Definition
- water (a fundamental constituent of all living
organisms)
- temperature (does not vary as drastically as it
does in air) |
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Term
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Definition
(meaning 'bottom')
encompasses the seafloor and includes such areas as shores, littoral or intertidal areas, coral reefs, and the deep seabed |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| inshore, separated from the oceanic zone by the edge of the continental shelf |
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Term
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Definition
plants or animals that live in association with the seafloor
(i.e. seaweeds, sessile animals, and those that crawl on or burrow into the substrate) |
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Term
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Definition
| organisms whose powers of locomotion are such that they are incapable of making their way against a current and thus are passively transported by currents in the sea |
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Term
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Definition
microscopic planktonic plants
i.e. diatoms, dinoflagellates |
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Term
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Definition
planktonic animals
i.e. jellyfish |
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Term
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Definition
| free-swimming animals that, in contrast to plankton, are strong enough to swim against currents and are therefore independent of water movements in the pelagic environment |
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Term
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Definition
| a distinctive group of interbreeding individuals that is reproductively isolated from other such groups |
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Term
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Definition
| a group of individuals of one species living in a particular place |
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Term
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Definition
| the number of individuals per unit area (or per unit volume of water) |
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Term
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Definition
| the various populations of micro-organisms, plants, and animals that inhabit the same physical area |
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Term
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Definition
| the place where an animal lives, but the term also may refer to the place occupied by an entire community |
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Term
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Definition
| consists of both nonliving abiotic components and biotic components that include the other organisms and species with which an organism interacts |
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Term
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Definition
| physical and chemical features, such as temperature and nutrient concentrations |
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Term
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Definition
| living components such as predators, parasites, competitors, and mates |
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Term
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Definition
| the highest level of ecological interaction, which encompasses one ore more communities in a large geographic area and includes the abiotic environment in which the organisms live |
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Term
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Definition
| the simplicity (or complexity) of communities and ecosystems; it can be defined many ways but generally accepted as the total number of species |
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Term
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Definition
-the life history pattern demonstrated by opportunistic species
-generally, these types of species are of small size, and they reach sexual maturity early
-they usually produce many young several times per year
-they live in variable or unpredictable environments, and they are able to respond quickly to favourable conditions or new habitats by rapid rates of colonization and reproduction
-they have high mortality rates as they are not able to compete with other species
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Term
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Definition
opposite life history pattern to r-selected species; organisms with this complement of characteristics are referred to as equilibrium species
includes fairly constant habitats with species that are larger in size and slowgrowing, but long lived
they take longer to reach reproductive maturity and produce fewer young but death rates are fairly low
i.e. whales |
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