Ecosystems

“Ocean’s Primary

Productivity”

Notes
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Use the notes below to complete the following study guide:

Grevert Productivity and Relationship notes

Trophic Structure

2 Main Components are primary producers & consumers

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There are 2 main components the primary producers also known as autotrophs because they
can make their own food. The other component is consumers also known as heterotrophs
because they have to eat food to get energy.

The term troph refers to food. Through trophic structures cup & plate are passed from one
organism to another.

Primary Producers __1__ trophic Level

These are organisms that form ___organic____ compounds (carbohydrates) through

____photosynthesis____ or _____chemosynthesis______.

Photosynthesis provides most of the energy the ____biosphere______ receives. Organisms

use ___chlorophyl____ a green pigment in cells to trap and use the sun’s energy. In the
ocean, these organisms can be microscopic _____diatoms_____ or giant kelp that can grow to
__2___ feet in length.

Phytoplankton are responsible for more than __92___% of marine energy production.

Photosynthesis can only take place where there is ____sunlight______.

Chemosynthesis is the process of using __chemicals___ to create

____carbohydrates_________. Organisms that use chemosynthesis use ____fixation_____ to
convert carbon into carbohydrates. These organisms are commonly located near _hot
underwater____ vents in the ___deep___ ocean. The main type of organism that can do
chemosynthesis is _____bacteria_____. These generally have a mutualistic relationship with
organisms like ___tube worms___ and giant clams in which they actually live inside of them.

The sugars produced during the processes of photosynthesis and ___sugar___ travel through
different _Organisms__ depending on “who eats whom”. This can be shown in a straight line
called a food ___food chain___. The producers are always the __first__ or the bottom of the
chain because that is where the energy starts. Those who eat the producers are called
primary consumers or Herbivores, the next is the secondary consumers. However, energy
rarely flows in a straight line but can take many pathways. These different pathways create a
food web.

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Energy Loss

As energy travels through organism after organism, much of it is lost. It can be lost in
one of several of the following ways:

● _excreted_ as waste

● Used for bodily functions like swimming and _reproduction_.

● Used to _build_ up body tissues.

A trophic pyramid shows the transfer of energy is large at the bottom where you will
find all the producers and small at the top where the top predators are. About 90% of
the energy is lost at each step up the pyramid.

Only 10% of energy at the producer level makes it way to the primary consumer level.
Most of it is lost in ____metabolism____. Luckily you do NOT represent all the calories
you have eaten since you were born.

The bottom layer of the trophic pyramid is always made up of primary producers. This
bottom layer will only pass along 10% of its energy. So if there were 1000 calories at the
Primary producer level there would be 100 calories at the primary consumer level and
then only 10 calories at the secondary consumer level.

Primary consumers are called this because they are the first ones to feed on the producers.
These are generally called herbivores. Examples of primary consumers are copepods and krill.
Second and third-level consumers are predators that hunt for their food. These are generally
called carnivores. Because you lose 90% of calories at each level it takes __10__Kg of primary
producers to create _5_ g of tuna.

Even though a food web doesn’t look like a pyramid, organisms can be __biomass__ by
counting how many “_primary_” away from a producer they are.

Herbivore: only eat plants

Carnivore: used for the consumers that eat only other consumers

Omnivore: eat both

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Trophic pyramids can be expressed in numbers of individuals, Biomass, or energy.

An ecosystem can only have so many predators because of the limited number or primary
producers. Because each level has less energy, there is a limit to how many levels in the
trophic pyramid there can be. Most marine webs have 3 to 4 trophic levels. This explains why
some organisms have territories that they patrol and protect.

Decomposers

Some material is lost as waste instead of moving through the food web. So organisms like
bacteria, fungi, and other decomposers break down waste products and dead bodies. They
break this non-living organic matter down to the original components of Carbon dioxide and
HO and nutrients. Detritus which is dead organic matter also known as marine snow as it falls
to the ocean bottom, must be recycled and returned back to the food web. Organisms that do
this are bacteria, sponges, ___________ and __________. Once recycled __________ can
then absorb these nutrients allowing it to become part of the __________ again. This whole
decomposing of waste and returning it to the food web is called regeneration.

Areas in the open ocean that do not have nutrients coming up from upwelling have lower
levels of productivity, which can affect the food webs and trophic pyramid. Phytoplankton
and other organisms need nutrients for ______and growth. This is why coastal areas are so
important.

Populations

• A group of the same species that occupies a specified area

Population size can be impacted by

• Geographic range

• Relationships with other organisms in their “community”

Communities

● Composed of populations of different species that occupy one habitat at the same time
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 ● This means they are looking for food and shelter in the same area, which can lead to different
relationships and competition.

Relationships or Symbiosis is when two organisms live in the same competition and interact with
each other.

Competition: when two or more organisms who need to use the same resource such as ____
nesting areas, a ____ or hiding places.
Competition may be interspecific: is a form of competition in which individuals of different
species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem

● OR intraspecific: a form of competition in which members of the same species vie for
the via resource in an ecosystem

● may result in competitive exclusion

Predator- Prey balance of abundance of prey vs. predators keeps both populations in check.

● keystone predators: predators that play an important role in a community,

usually by keeping doan certain populations that if exploded could have
devastating effects on the ecosystem.

● Ex. otters keep down the sea population which could clear out a kelp
forest.

VOCABULARY TERMS TO BE DEFINED

Autotrophs Heterotrophs troph Primary producer

Phytoplankton Chemosynthesis Primary consumer food web

Trophic pyramid 10% trophic rule Metabolism Secondary consumers

Apex predators Tertiary consumers Herbivore Carnivore

Omnivore Biomass Open system Closed system

Decomposer detritus Estuary Community

Population Keystone predator Interspecific Intraspecific

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 competition competition

Mutualism Commensalism parasitism symbiosis