Summary Marine Animal Ecology (MAE-30306)

Marine Animal Ecology
Difference animal ecology
 Aqueous versus gaseous environment
 Food availability is higher in marine realm
 Sedentary lifestyle
o Stuck to sea floor
 Filter feeding
 Pressure
 Less energy into stability
 Gas exchange – oxygen availability
o Oxygen density 100 times lower in marine realm
 pH

2 systems in marine realm
 Pelagic system
o Water part
 Benthic system
o Floor part


Traits and Interactions
Traits  individual level
Interactions  community level

Traits
 Features and capabilities that animals possess

Interactions
 Competition
o Space
o Food
 Trophic
o Predator – prey
 Symbiosis

Benthic pelagic coupling
 Coupling of the food chains of the benthic and pelagic system
o Sponges and shellfish eating DOM from pelagic systems

, Ocean physics and early lives
stages
Ocean physics
 Highly related to water flow

Reynolds number
 Re = p * U * I / µ
o p = fluid density
o U = fluid velocity
o I = characteristic length of object
o µ = dynamic viscosity
 Ratio between dynamic forces and viscous forces
 Re < 1: laminar flow
 Re > 1: turbulent flow

Closer to the sea floor the water flow will diminish
Diffuse Boundary Layer (DBL)
 No flow: mass transfer only through diffusion

Smooth surface  Low Reynolds number  thicker boundary layer  more problems with gas
exchange
Rough surface  High Reynolds number  thinner boundary layer

Reproduction
 Production
o K species
 Few offspring
 Intensive nursery
 Live bearing
o R species
 Much offspring
 Little to nu nursery
 Recruitment
o Successful establishment of a new
generation
 Successful: new generation starts to reproduce itself

Corals have two strategies for sexual reproduction
 Brooding
o Internal fertilization, release of juvenile or larvae
 Broadcasting
o External fertilization, mass spawning

Larvae: two phases
 Become competent to settle
 Find place to settle
 Depends on
o Predation
o Current