Marine Bio

I was not in school for the Marine Food Web activity.

Phytoplankton
a. Phytoplankton are very important to marine food webs. Phytoplankton are the base of almost every marine food web. Organisms such as Plankton and Capepods are in the neuston ecosystem, and feed off of bacteria. Other animals then eat the organisms in the neuston ecosystem, starting a food web. The Nueston ecosystem is very thin. It is most commonly only a few millimeters. It receives the maximum sunlight, and it covers about 71% of the Earth's surface. 

b. Hypothesis:
What are the characteristics of diatoms?
Diatoms are photosynthetic micro organisms that rely on sunlight for energy. Diatoms must stay at the surface of the ocean to collect the light they need and to that end have structural adapations for floating. Some species have needle-like spines and ragged edges and other species have oil that helps their buoyancy. 

How are they affected by nutrients?
Diatoms depend on nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to support their life processes. During springtime upwelling nutrients from the ocean floor are brought to the surface. These nutrients are a combination of dead organisms and feces. 

What adaptations do they have for abiotic factors in the ecosystems in which they are found?
Because diatoms need to stay on the surface of the water in order to collect the energy they need, they have many structural adaptations for flotation. Some species have needle-like spines and ragged edges and other species have oil that helps their buoyancy. Their trick to being able to float is to have a lower density than the fluid that you are in. Diatoms' increased surface area through flattened bodies with spines and ragged edges use the viscosity of water to full advantage.

Activity 1 Results
What is diatomacious earth?
Soil that contains diatoms or their fossils

What causes the reflection of light?
The diatom shells

What characteristic of diatoms makes them useful for reflective paint?
Their shells are used to put the glitter into reflective paint

Conclude and Communicate:
Write what you learned from these activities, were your original ideas supported by your data?
I learned a lot about diatoms and their characteristics. Originally I did not know much about this organism at all and I was surprised to learn what I did about them. After examining a small amount of diatomacious earth under a microscope, I learned what it looks like and how very small of a micro-organism diatoms really are.