Marine Biology Exam set | Questions and Answers | Latest 2026 Update
Q: extinction of original species Max Diversity in Indowest Pacific can be
attributed to: the combination of tropical sources and the museum hypothesis
Species Diversity will increase: with increasing habitat area Increasing long term
habitat stability: may tip the speciation to extinction balance towards speciation
Shifting Baselines Marine habitats are altered so much by human activity that it
is hard to tell what is natural What three qualities combine to determine distinct
provinces of species?
Answer:
Geographic isolation and geographic gradients (salinity and temperature).
,Q: Phylogeography Study of relating evolutionary lineages to geographic relations
within species What two factors rend to reduce population sizes of prey species?
Answer:
Predation and disturbance What two factors contribute to high areas of diversity?
Centers of origins for new species (such as the tropics) and the current distribution of
species influenced by isolating barriers which resulted in speciation from original
isolated species Coral Mounds A deep Sea habitat They're deep-to the abyss 4
degrees Celcius and dark Lacy Symbiodinium filter feed Marine Snow from above
Support high biodiversity Hot vents Spew diffused sulfide which is used by free
living bacteria which live in symbiotic association with worms Cold Seeps Areas of
sea bed where there is an abundance of hydrocarbons or sulfides that rise from rock
fissures from sea floor. Invertebrate fauna dwell. Provinces Aggregates of species
Intermediate predation hypothesis bell curve of species diversity vs predation low
levels or predation low levels of species diversity (competitively dominant prey
exclude other species) intermediate levels of predation high species diversity
(predation lowers dominant species abundance allowing new species to colonize or
remaining prey species to become more abundant w/o as much competition from
dominant species)
,Q: high levels of predation low levels of species diversity (predation drives species
locally extinct)
Answer:
Geographic Isolation Promotes speciation through physical separation.
True or False: Deep sea coral mounds support important fisheries, but attract
damaging
trawlers true that
True or False: Deep water coral mounds are not in danger of extinction. False:
Increasing
CO2 in atmosphere damages corals.
Aragonite saturation horizon Aragonite based organisms cannot live above this
horizon
Aristotle (384BC - 322BC) identified a variety of species including crustaceans,
echinoderms,
mollusks, and fish
Ferdinand Magellan (1519 - 1522) circumnavigated the globe, which allowed him to
create
accurate minds
James Cook (1786) first scientific observations, was a naturalist
Charles Darwin (1831 - 1836) collected marine organisms; created the theory of
coral reef
formation, and did a lot of work on barnacles
HMS Challenger (1872 - 1876) visited all oceans except the artic. Was the first to use
standardized methods to collect data and investigate aspects of physics, chemistry,
biology, and
geology. The final report consisted of more than 50 volumes. It observed: patterns of
deep-
water circulation, the chemistry of world's oceans, the geology of the deep-sea floor,
the
distribution of deep-sea organisms
, Q: Marine labs science bases along different coasts that allow you to study marine
biology. The
Answer:
first one, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole was established in 1888,
which led to
an explosion of other labs all around the world.
Alvin the manned submersible, opened doors to the deep sea
Aquarius Underwater Laboratory Florida Keys, allows for around the clock
investigation
Seawater has a high heat capacity and is around 1000 times more dense than air; this
difference in density makes it very hard to study in because humans aren't used to
that
pressure (25 m deep would exert a force equivalent to an air velocity of ~1600 mph)
Salinity it is about 35%; sodium and chlorine comprise about 86% of the salt in the
sea and
have a constancy of composition, meaning the ratio of ions is stable; sources: the
weathering of
rocks and the reaction of lava with sea water
Vertical salinity low salinity on the surface layer; rapid changes in salinity occur in
the
halocline region; salinity is stable in the deep ocean
Horizontal salinity salinity does not vary that much; isohalines; areas of high salinity
depend
on heat and temperature increases without precipitation
Temperature like salinity, it varies with depth
Vertical temperature higher temperature on the mixed layer due to the mixture of
water
and wind, rapid temperature change in the thermocline layer, and then constant
cooler
temperatures in deep water
Horizontal temperature shows the fluctuations in temperature of space and time;
isotherms
Q: extinction of original species Max Diversity in Indowest Pacific can be
attributed to: the combination of tropical sources and the museum hypothesis
Species Diversity will increase: with increasing habitat area Increasing long term
habitat stability: may tip the speciation to extinction balance towards speciation
Shifting Baselines Marine habitats are altered so much by human activity that it
is hard to tell what is natural What three qualities combine to determine distinct
provinces of species?
Answer:
Geographic isolation and geographic gradients (salinity and temperature).
,Q: Phylogeography Study of relating evolutionary lineages to geographic relations
within species What two factors rend to reduce population sizes of prey species?
Answer:
Predation and disturbance What two factors contribute to high areas of diversity?
Centers of origins for new species (such as the tropics) and the current distribution of
species influenced by isolating barriers which resulted in speciation from original
isolated species Coral Mounds A deep Sea habitat They're deep-to the abyss 4
degrees Celcius and dark Lacy Symbiodinium filter feed Marine Snow from above
Support high biodiversity Hot vents Spew diffused sulfide which is used by free
living bacteria which live in symbiotic association with worms Cold Seeps Areas of
sea bed where there is an abundance of hydrocarbons or sulfides that rise from rock
fissures from sea floor. Invertebrate fauna dwell. Provinces Aggregates of species
Intermediate predation hypothesis bell curve of species diversity vs predation low
levels or predation low levels of species diversity (competitively dominant prey
exclude other species) intermediate levels of predation high species diversity
(predation lowers dominant species abundance allowing new species to colonize or
remaining prey species to become more abundant w/o as much competition from
dominant species)
,Q: high levels of predation low levels of species diversity (predation drives species
locally extinct)
Answer:
Geographic Isolation Promotes speciation through physical separation.
True or False: Deep sea coral mounds support important fisheries, but attract
damaging
trawlers true that
True or False: Deep water coral mounds are not in danger of extinction. False:
Increasing
CO2 in atmosphere damages corals.
Aragonite saturation horizon Aragonite based organisms cannot live above this
horizon
Aristotle (384BC - 322BC) identified a variety of species including crustaceans,
echinoderms,
mollusks, and fish
Ferdinand Magellan (1519 - 1522) circumnavigated the globe, which allowed him to
create
accurate minds
James Cook (1786) first scientific observations, was a naturalist
Charles Darwin (1831 - 1836) collected marine organisms; created the theory of
coral reef
formation, and did a lot of work on barnacles
HMS Challenger (1872 - 1876) visited all oceans except the artic. Was the first to use
standardized methods to collect data and investigate aspects of physics, chemistry,
biology, and
geology. The final report consisted of more than 50 volumes. It observed: patterns of
deep-
water circulation, the chemistry of world's oceans, the geology of the deep-sea floor,
the
distribution of deep-sea organisms
, Q: Marine labs science bases along different coasts that allow you to study marine
biology. The
Answer:
first one, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole was established in 1888,
which led to
an explosion of other labs all around the world.
Alvin the manned submersible, opened doors to the deep sea
Aquarius Underwater Laboratory Florida Keys, allows for around the clock
investigation
Seawater has a high heat capacity and is around 1000 times more dense than air; this
difference in density makes it very hard to study in because humans aren't used to
that
pressure (25 m deep would exert a force equivalent to an air velocity of ~1600 mph)
Salinity it is about 35%; sodium and chlorine comprise about 86% of the salt in the
sea and
have a constancy of composition, meaning the ratio of ions is stable; sources: the
weathering of
rocks and the reaction of lava with sea water
Vertical salinity low salinity on the surface layer; rapid changes in salinity occur in
the
halocline region; salinity is stable in the deep ocean
Horizontal salinity salinity does not vary that much; isohalines; areas of high salinity
depend
on heat and temperature increases without precipitation
Temperature like salinity, it varies with depth
Vertical temperature higher temperature on the mixed layer due to the mixture of
water
and wind, rapid temperature change in the thermocline layer, and then constant
cooler
temperatures in deep water
Horizontal temperature shows the fluctuations in temperature of space and time;
isotherms
