Marine

Organisms
Lecture 3
Marine Ecology; EEB434H

Dietzel et al., 2021

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Biodiversity of
life on Earth
• Considerable uncertainty
about the number of species
on our planet.
• Estimated 5 – 11 million
species of eukaryotic species
on Earth.
• 0.7 – 2.2 million in the
ocean
Among
higher taxa
of animals,
the ocean is
more diverse
this makes sense cos there have more organisms in
the ocean than there have been on land so it makes
sense that u would have more phyla in the ocean
The functional diversity of primary producers
is much greater in the ocean than on land

primary productivity where on land u have flowring plants

‘whereas in the ocean ur primary productivity ranges frpm phytoplankton, single cell organism all the way up to seagrass
how organisms move
nutrients around in the
ocean, to power life -

how nutrients go through

different trophic levels

think of organisms as
balls of nutrients that are
moving things around in
the ocean

the organism is a ball of

lipid that accumulates
contaminants and
moves around an
ecosystem
 how organisms move nutrients arounf the ocean

looking how organisms move

chemicals around in the arctic
ecosystem

Borga et al., 2009

alot of these chemicals that end up in the ocean like pesticides are lipophilic so they like fat - so in the arctic ocean they have
organisms and every organism has lipid in it and the lipid amount changes seasonally-so in the summer months where u have high
primary productivity organisms like phytoplankton, they can let go of their lipids, they dont need to hold on to it for storage, and in
the winter months they store that lipid which means they can store more contaminants - so u see more contaminants in organisms
that have higher lipid content - so u have this ecology that drives how contaminants move around in the system but really its based
on the biochemistry of the organism-
more lipid=more contaminants
so it has to do with the amount of lipid in the organism , it also has to do with the size of an organism

the older the organisms, the bigger it gets, the more lipid it has, the more contaminants it will have- so bigger
animals will have more contaminants

also organisms that are higher in the food web have more contaminants because they live longer, have more lipid
and they’re eating more of the organisms that are in the lower levels

so its the ingrediants of the organism that dictate how nutrients move around
 functional traits of the organism and how they drive biodiversity in an ecosystem-functional traits of fish
different traits species that live in coral reefs and the traits they have and how they evolve over time
eat coral so they have different traits: so it either eats coral, lives off of coral or it doesnt eat coral, they evolve
not eat coral independently in different parts
so its a functional trait thats evolving based on its environment

so depending on where they live, if they’re bethnic or pelagic, u see how much of a home range it
occupies, then u its body size
so u have these different traits that are evolving independently in different groups

Floeter et al., 2017

Plan for today:
oganisms as the bbuilding

• Building blocks of life

• Powering Life
• Functional Ecology
Plan for today:
• Building blocks of life
• Powering Life
• Functional Ecology
organisms are a bunch of biochemistry
so we have a bunch of different nutrients that
are in us that make up our system- how much
of each nutrient u have
it doesnt vary that much from our environment
so u see the abundance of nutrients in sea
water and how much that varies with the
abundance of nutrients in humans or the
abundance in bacteria

so we’re not that different from our

environment-
correlation between nutrients in the
environment and nutrients in humans living in
that environment
Stoichiometry
predicts how much nutrients are in different types of organisms- so stoichiometry is predictable within an organism, which is the relative proportions of
different chemicals in an organism’s body

so u have % of phosphorus and % of nitrogen, and different organisms tend to have different ratios
 so when u think of the nutrients/chemicals in an organism , one of
the ways we measure how energy moves around a system is
through carbon
Carbon is the backbone for
all biochemicals, and thus all
organic matter.

- Carbon content is the most

accurate measure of
biomass.
- Carbon-carbon bonds are
the principal means of
storing energy, and are thus
a good measure of
biologically available energy.
if u wanna undestand the biomass of an organism, u
measure it in carbon because the Carbon-carbon bonds are
the principal means of storing energy
jelly-fish are primarily water, so if u dry out a jelly fish u can mesure the amount
of carbon in it by measuring the weigh of a dry jelly fish
but if u think of coral they’re primarily building their calcium carbon skeleton,
they’re not primarily water, so the stoichemotry is different between coral and
jellyfish in terms of the distribution of the different chemicals that its made out of
 these make up 99% of what an organism is made out of
hydrogen, carbon,oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus
there are also other elements like trace metals that we need in small amounts

nitrogen is also
carbon is used to important- they’re
measure energy the building
blocks of protein

Organisms
consist of
more than
Carbon

in land phosphorus is limited

nitrogen is the limiting nutrient in the ocean- when u have increasing nitrogen in
ocean u have more biomass and life and potentially a healthy ecosystem
iron is also limiting in ocean-add more iron=u could get more life

adding nitrogen or iron in the ocean to increase primary prodyctivity- primary

productivity would be a sink for carbon dioxide- so can fix climate change or to
promote healthy fisheries
adding too much nitrogen in ocean is bad- with too much farming u get agricultural renause,
and u get fertilization of the ocean through nitrogen- u get these big red tides which cause
biolumenecant ocean-they’re also made by toxic algae that can harm the ecosystem

excess nitrogen in ocean- increases the nutrients in the ocean- causes phytoplankton to
bloom-too much phytoplankton grows- oxygen levels decrease, fish die- and some other fish
die from the top too from the algae

so not always fertilizing the environment is a good thing

Medina et al., 2022

hypothesis 1:
if u increase iron in the
ocean u can increase
primary productivity,
build a really healthy hypothesis 2:
ecosystem-and the ferilize the ocean with
primary productivity iron- u get increasing
would be a sink for primary productivity-but u
carbon dioxide so u can dont get healthy
help reduce climate ecosystem- you get
change slime- u get loads of
jellyfish which dont
produce healthy
ecosystem with top
predators and a
balanced biodiversity

carbon sinks to help

reduce climate
change, the oceans
and forests are
huge carbon sinks -
the boreal forest,
rainforests
Plan for today:
• Building blocks of life
primary productivity affects the
• Powering Life environment and the community
and ecosystem within it

• Functional Ecology
phtoplankton plays a vital role in cloud formation
droplets form clouds-these clouds reflect the sun protecting the earth from rising
temperatures
-phytoplankton creates clouds, clouds reflect sun which protects the climate-
engineered ways to solve the climate problem
-the other way is throwing aerosals up into the atmosphere, and the aerosols
reflect the sun

krill as keystone species - u see how they fuel an entire ecosystem

phytoplabktom is the basis of all life on earth-from the big and small fish -primary
producers
Autotrophy Autotrophy is photosynthesis and chemosynthesis

primary productivity in the ocean creates all the living matter from non living things
it doesnt just fuel the ocean it also fuels life on land

photosynthesis uses sunlight and nutrients to produce life

chemosynthesis, instead of sunlight u take chemicals that are coming out of the earth’s crust, in this case from hydrothermal vents, and produce primary productivity not from photosynthesis

so u can have primary producers coming from different sources but

primary productivity=u dont have to actually consume an organism
Heterotrophy=starts with the consumption of something else
 Heterotrophy
Heterotrophy=starts with the consumption of something else
primary productivity
heterotrohy
or autrophohy
so u have a metabolism that starts with consumption, with Heterotrophy some of that which u consume is completely lost, things
u cant digest, some is assimilated into energy which is lost as we do things, and some of it goes into net production which is
whats making us grow, re[roduce, creating the actual physical structures of our body

so within the entire environment or the entire earth between all the organisms , u either have primary productivity, autotrophy or
heterotrophy which is basically every level of the food chain up from there
 an example of autotrophy from chemosynthesis is from whale falls how nutrients move around the pcean- a major body of carbon nitrogen and

Dead bodies: Whale Falls

other things falls to the deep ocean, fueling an entire ecosystem- evertime a
whale dies it falls to bottom of ocean- at first its scavanged on through
heterotrophy by sharks and other organisms that will feed off of the tissue, then
when u have bones with little bits of meat still left on it u may still have
scavengers, then u get chemosynthesis from the chemicals thats in the actual

- When carcass of a whale falls into the deep sea.

bones of the animal

hypothesis:that these whale falls are actually stepping stones for organisms
wirthin hydothermal vents because within hydrothermal vents u dont just have
species that have similaar funtional traits u literally have the same species

- Create complex ecosystems that can feed deep-sea organisms over decades.
thousands of kilometers apart so the question is why

heterotrophy
chemosynthesis-using the chemicals from the bones

20
 Kinetics of Life and Temperature
one of the kinetics of life or how things are powered instead of just nutrients and how its driven by nutrients, its also driven by temperature

Stenothermal vs Eurythermal life- not only driven by how nutrients move, but also by temperature

warmer temperature-more life-temperature influences the rate of metabolisms

more ecosytsem proceses or more species interactions in warmer ecosystems, u have faster kinetics of many things as the temperature gets warmer, this is why we think
we have more biodiversity in the tropics- the temperature influences the rate of all biological processes
a organism can be Eurythermal (meaning it can tolerate a broad range of temperature) or it can be Stenothermal (they can only tolerate a small range of temperature)
corals are Stenothermal especially reef corals that only live between 30 degree north and 30 degree south latitide-where its warmer, they live in shallow waters so they can
have warmer temperatures - but if it gets too hot they dont do well

smaller species if they are Stenothermal they can experience a smaller range
if they’re a larger species and they’re Stenothermal then they can experience a larger range

plasticity
certain organisms are more plastic in terms of the temperature range that they can have
Dimensions • Allometry – the regular change in body shape with size; the scaling of any
physiological or metabolic process with size.

of Life
use allometry to predict many things that have in a ecosystem
metabolic rate scales with body mass as a power function
think of organisms on earth- with increasing mass/size u have increasing ability to lay down tissue from the sides- this also affects the rate of population growth
,mortality
smaller organisms have faster metabolism- they release more energy -but they build less tissue
larger organisms -slower metabolism per gram—but u use more of what u eat to build more mass or tissue

with increasing mass u have slower rate of development

in colder ecosystems u also have slower rate of development
u tend to have larger organisms where its colder, they have a slower metabolism in terms of the amount of energy u use per gram of body tissue - so if u have more gram of body
tissue= u waste less energy so u produce more mass

-at higher temperate the kinetcs of life increase- so u have faster development (so u might have smaller organisms that grow to reproductive age faster) , reproduction happens earlier,
u reproduce more, die faster- so phytoplankon are smaller in the tropics -population size big
-in colder ecosystems -larger animals-kinetics are slower-development slower-reproduce slower, die slower-population size smaller/lower

-with increasing size of an organism it scales with metabolic rate- so smaller size organism- metabolism is faster
-larger organisms -slower metabolism per gram—but u use more of what u eat to build more mass or tissue

so ecological processes vary by temperature, vary by how much nutrients are in a system
Metabolic rate scales with body mass as a power function
 quicker biological rate
higher temperatures-quicker mortality-
higher temperatures-faster reproduction

The dependence
on biological
rates on
temperature can
be combined
into a predictive
framework
Body size affects the way organisms function sharks detect prey by using oil packets under
their snout to test electricity, the can detect
there are certain functional traits that marine organisms can turn on or off at different body sizes
prey’s heartbeat even if they can’t see u they
know ur there by ur electricity-circulatory system

Chemical Optimal sensory Predators can

diffusion to mode for see as far as
locate detecting prey visibility
resources shifts from allows if they need to see
further, this is where u
to get resourses hydromechanical
sensing the feeling when u have an organism around
have things like
to visual echolocation
(whales)or using
so here organisms start to develop eyes, they start to develop actual vision-vision
depends on the animal- seastar can only tell the difference between light and sounds, chemical
7cm = Threshold where water
dark, fish can see like us- so u have more complex vision as u move more to the
right
ques to be able to
detect prey/predator
transitions from viscous to inertial
in addition to vision, fish can sense when
something is around or can stay in their
school by lateral line-little villi along their
side

water transitions from feeling very viscous to feeling like u need inersha to move
depending on size of animal- so if ur a copapod living in the ocean it feels like swimming in
molasis, u dont need inersha to stay where u are its more of a sticky environment because
of the surface area and size of the animal
once u get bigger u need the inersha to move around
so a functional trait of swimmers above a certain size are all hydrodynamic in shape
Body shape above 7cm (or 2.8 inches)
all fish above 7 cm have hydrodynamic football shape to help them swim-exception to this rule is the ocean sunfish (amolamola) they’re not hydrodynamic
 body size and shape
what eat lives, how it lives

pectoral fins can

help them turn and
move around in
Dascyllus aruanus Alopias pelagicus Hippoglossus stenolepis the water or they
can help them
stand or walk
around

Phycodurus eques Chauliodus danae Thunnus maccoyii

Notoclinops
Selene vomer
caerulepunctus
Natural selection and
adaptation
Adaptation is the process by
which natural selection
adjusts the functional fit of
an organism to its
environment. The product of
natural selection is also often
referred to as an adaptation.
colouration-some are
more camoflaged
than others

so u have certain
traits that make
organisms more fit
that evolve over
history and
sometimes there are
certain traits that
evolve across
different species
independantly
nekton- opposite of plankton, they’re swimming organisms
squid just like fish have hydrodynamic shape
Genotype – the genetic code of an individual organisms, written in its DNA sequence.
that genetic code can change over time as organisms evolve
Phenotype – everything built from that code, the totality of that organisms structural
and functional properties

coloration,behaviour of organism,
morphology of body structures
Genotype – the genetic code of an individual organisms, written in its DNA sequence.
Phenotype – everything built from that code, the populations
totality of that organisms structural
that have more genetic diversity are predicted to do better as well
and functional properties as populations that have diversity of traits that are more plastic-so when u
have a semothermic species that has less tolerance to temperature they may
be less plastic and more at a risk under climate change, that why we’re
so u have the genotype which displays the phenotype but u also have plasticity loosing coral reefs cos they’re not tolerant to these changes in temperatures
plasticity is how that trait can vary with the environment

or u can have them

going in different
directions-here u
have an actual
u can have a genotype with no u can have genotypes where with
envnvoronmental changes, the trait genotype by
plasticity and no matter whats going varies and it can vary at different rates environment
on in the environment the trait stays and if one of those rates is more interaction-again if
the same favourable than that can evolve, so u
one trait is more
can have those traits going all in the
same direction or u can have them favourable, u can
going in different directions eventually have it
lead to an adaptation-
so the more diversity
u have in a genotype
as well as plascitity, u
are more likely to be
successful to the
environment changes
Plan for today:
• Building blocks of life
• Powering Life
• Functional Ecology
 Trait-based ecology
functional traits and how that relates to how species assemple, predatpr/prey interaction, and using it to create predicted models about ecosystems
so its less about the taxonomy of the species and more about the traits of the individual in addition to thinking about the environment, to how ecosystems function

Kiorboe et al., 2018

Trait-based ecology

Kiorboe et al., 2018

 Functional traits
connect organisms to
ecosystems
functional traits can be relevant to the physical
processes and to some ecosystem processes
within an ecosystem- so u can have functional
trait of roots within plants which is highly
dependant on the water cycle -how important it
is to put energy and resources towards this
functional trait- u have the actual plant itself,
the leaf, the structure that lays down carbon
which develps into the carbon cycle- then the
flower which is a key player in terms of
reproduction which is credible to pollination-
these different traits interact within the
organism- so u have the intergrated phenotype
and trait trait relationships which affect if u have
tradeoff-
-so for example if u have less water in an
ecosystem, u might put more energy into ur
roots which means u have to take energy away
from the other traits within the phenotype-
-if predation has increased, u may put more of
ur energy into putting more of ur green, or
laying down more carbon in order to survive
with increased grazing
-if pollination is down and u need more
pollinators u may put more energy into
flowering so that u can reproduce and exist in a
population

Sobral, 2021
 Fundamental vs Realized niche

functional traits also predict where an organism lives-here we have 2 species: balanus and chthamalus-they both can have a fundamental niche which can
be quite similar in terms of where they can live within a pike ecosystem- but the realized niche is where they actually live because of competition- so even if
u have organisms with similar functional traits u have diversity within an organism and so some may be able to take up more space better, they may be
better at escaping a predator, finding prey, reproducing..so u have these patterns- but u also have patterns in functional traits that can help u predict
macroecology
 Macroecology
how the size of zooplankton varies around
the world- so in the middle of the open
ocean where the temperatures are
warmer, u have low nutrients partially cos
u have constant stratification, u dont have
the cold water coming up with the
upwelling and bringing with it nutrients to zones where u have
upwelling
the surface so we have low nutrient areas-
so with low nutrient areas with low
temperatures u have small sized
phytoplankton-this is cos of the physical
environment and the temperature

when u have colder ecosystem, slower

development,laying down more body
mass, more nutrients, u have greater
sized zooplankton- so u see that in the
poles and in zones where u have
upwelling, zones bringing up the nutrients
to the surface so based on the physical environment and functional
traits of an organism u can get these hige patterns
and areas where u have downwelling, u interms of macroecology
have the smaller zooplankton

Kiorboe et al., 2018

 Macroecology so going to a much higher level of biological organization

- Focuses on the patterns and relationships that emerge when considering large numbers of species and
individuals across broad spatial scales, linking levels of organization from gene through biochemical reaction
to landscape. levels of biological organization
the organism is
- The bricks between the scales, and between subfields of ecology, are functional traits (mediating
resource use, species interactions, population growth and biogeochemical fluxes.
in macroecology u have similar
processes that underpin the
same patterns or different
processes that underpin
opposite patterns
- so for example here on the left
u have the loss of a predator to
an ecosystem, whereas if u lose
the otters in a kelp forest u have
increased explosion of grazers
so u lose the kelp forest
ecosystem,
-on the right hand side this
doesnt happen through the loss
of a predator but with increased
conservation for example u have
more sea turtles, u get increased
grazing which ruins the seagrass
ecosystem so ur losing a
foundational organism and
shifting an ecosystem through
overgrazing-

Macroecology is in a sense an extension of the allometry of individual organisms to the allometry of ecosystems.
sea turtle
 Macroecology
- Focuses on the patterns and relationships that emerge when considering large numbers of species and
individuals across broad spatial scales, linking levels of organization from gene through biochemical reaction
to landscape.
- The bricks between the scales, and between subfields of ecology, are functional traits (mediating
resource use, species interactions, population growth and biogeochemical fluxes.

key stone predators-seastars- u have different

species of seastars in north american vs chile- u
have a similar process carving a similar patterrn- or
u can have different processes that underpin
different patterns- so here u have overgrazing
which causes a bear in kelp forests, whereas here
u have a very healthy group of primary producers
cos u have the predation in the system, the otter in
this case being the keystone predator, that keeps
the system healthy, keeps the seastars in check -
so through these different traits within an organism
u an predict these large scale changes

Macroecology is in a sense an extension of the allometry of individual organisms to the allometry of ecosystems.
Next lecture – Marine Populations (First Quiz in Class)
Next lab – Fish Physiology (This Thursday in RW)
Come to lab ready to get a little gross.
Bring lab notebook as print-out or on computer or tablet.