Marine Ecosystems, Food Webs, & Food Chains. How do plants and animals of the estuary get the energy they need to move and grow?

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1 Marine Ecosystems, Food Webs, & Food Chains How do plants and animals of the estuary get the energy they need to move and grow?

2 The Organization of Ecosystems What is an ecosystem? Part of the biosphere that includes living and non-living parts of the environment as well as their interactions Biotic factors living parts in an ecosystem Ex: plants, animals Abiotic factors non-living parts of in an ecosystem Ex: light, temperature, wind, soil, water What is a habitat? Place where organisms live that provides factors necessary for survival Each organism has its own niche in its habitat. A niche how an organism acts in its habitat or its role in the habitat» Ex: bacteria s niche is to decompose dead plant and animal matter and to return nutrients to the soil

3 Levels of Organization **LEFT SIDE NOTES** All of the populations that live in the same area at the same time Community Example: Algae, shrimp, spot, shark, whale All organisms of a particular species that live in the same place Population Example: School of Spot Simplest level of the living world; any living organism Species Example: Spot (type of fish)

4 Characteristics of Marine Ecosystems Types Freshwater Lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, wetlands Saltwater Ocean Producers Plants Create food through photosynthesis Seaweed, algae, plankton Phytoplankton microscopic plants Consumers Animals Create food through respiration Fish, shrimp, crabs, lobster, cranes, pelicans, beavers, otters, seals, whales, sharks Zooplankton microscopic animals

5 The sun is the source of energy for all living things. Green plants can change sunlight energy into food (chemical) energy. Photosynthesis

6 Producers make their own food using energy from sunlight (photosynthesis). Producers are autotrophs. algae Microscopic phytoplankton seaweed

7 Sunlight energy oxygen carbon dioxide sugar water

8 Small but Mighty Phytoplankton are floating microscopic plants. They are very important marine ecosystem producers. Phytoplankton Zooplankton Phytoplankton are eaten by floating animals, zooplankton - and by bigger animals like snails, clams, and barnacles.

9 Animals get energy from eating plants or other animals. They are called consumers. Consumers are heterotrophs. Primary consumers (herbivores) eat plants. Secondary consumers (carnivores) eat other animals.

10 Other Marine Creatures at the in the Marine Food Chain Benthos are organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean or other bodies of water. They can live on the continental shelf or in the deep zone on the abyssal plain. Benthic organisms eat phytoplankton and are links to larger consumers in a food chain. oysters clams barnacles bloodworms

11 Other Marine Creatures at the in the Marine Food Chain Nekton are all marine animals capable of moving on their own (without water s help). These make up the largest group of marine animals. Plankton rely on the water s current to move, but nekton do not rely on the water s current. Octopus Tuna Mollusk -- snail Whale

12 Decomposers are bacteria and fungi that break down dead plant and animal matter and return nutrients to the environment.

13 Why are food chains and food webs important? Plants and animals: 1. Burn energy when they move and grow. 2. Store energy in their bodies. 3. Release unused energy as waste and heat. food energy in Energy used for swimming Food energy stored in fish - ready to be eaten Undigested food energy out

14 Sunlight energy Energy is transferred from plants to animals through Food Chains. Tertiary Consumer (third-order consumer) producer Primary Consumer (first-order consumer) Secondary Consumer (secondorder consumer)

15 Food chains often overlap, making food webs. The arrows show the direction of energy flow in food chains and food webs.

16 Relative Importance Of Food Web Linkages Primary (75-100% of Total) Secondary (50-74% of Total) Tertiary (25-49% of Total) Incidental (0-24% of Total) Because many animals eat more than one thing, tracing energy through the estuary can get messy. Great Blue Heron Sanderlings,Long & Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater Yellowlegs Whimbrel, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Pintail, Western Sandpiper Snow Goose, Canada Goose, black Brant, American coot Buffalo Sculpin Valviferan Isopods Pacific Staghorn Sculpin Small Fish (inc. herring, perch) Tubenose Poacher Silverspotted Sculpin From Simenstad et al Mysids Sharpnose Sculpin Macrophytic Algae Penpoint Gunnel Harpacticoid Copepods Chum Salmon (juv.) Tidepool Sculpin Gammarid Amphipods Brachyuran Crabs Nemerteans Crescent Gunnel Shiner Perch Detritus Flabelliferan Isopods Benthic Meiofauna Bay Pipefish Cumaceans Gastropod Molluscs Saddleback Gunnel Microphytic Algae Tanaids Padded Sculpin English Sole (juv.) Starry Flounder (juv.) Polychaete Annelids Phytoplankton Hippolytid, Crangonid, And Penaeid Shrimp Anthozoans Snake Prickleback Bivalve Molluscs Gastropod Molluscs Tunicates Saltmarsh Plants & Eelgrass

17 Are you part of the marine food chain/web?