11:375:101 Lecture 13: Aquatic Ecosystems
30 Jan 2019
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Document Summary
Tiny animals aka polyps feed on the algae. Algae provides food and oxygen, helps produce the exoskeleton, and gives the reef color. If the algal partner is lost, the animal dies bc it gets its food from the algae. It cannot scavenge and start looking for food. 97% of the water on the planet is salt water. Cannot be used to irrigate non salt water plants. Of that, most is stored as frozen water. Bc of climate change, the freshwater gets moved into the oceans. Can go with, against, up, down the current. There is some fungi but mostly just bacteria. Must be able to decay a whale when it dies. Factors that control the distribution and diversity of organisms. Most cannot switch between saline and fresh water. Silt = small sand particle; gets carried far in rivers. Silt shades the sunlight from the phytoplankton. Trees that grow right up to the ocean"s edge.
