Seafloor Ecology

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Seafloor Ecology

• Habitats and Food Chains

Insert image of animals under the sea
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The marine environment

• Around 71 of the Earths surface is covered by
  oceans
• Oceans form one of the largest habitats on earth
  and many parts have only recently begun to be
  explored
• Studying the seafloor is important to our
  understanding of how animals live and survive in
  the marine environment.

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Habitats
A habitat is an area where a group of animals
live. There are many different habitats around
earth. Some animals dont always stay in the same
habitat, but move depending on factors such as
the season.
Image different habitats, desert, cold mountains,
rivers trees, marine
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Marine Habitats
Like anywhere else the marine environment
contains many different types of habitat. Due to
the size and depth of some marine habitats little
is known about them and very few have been
explored.
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Open Ocean
The open ocean is anywhere in the ocean not near
the coast or seafloor. While this is a large part
of Earths surface it is low in nutrients and
animals in this habitat often travel long
distances.Animals which live in the open ocean
around the UK include seagulls, sharks, squid,
seals, basking sharks and salmon.
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Rocky seafloor
The rocky seafloor is part of the seabed. Animals
here live permanently directly above, on or under
the seabed. Many of the animals have adapted to
the habitat by clinging onto the rocks or using
the material as homes.Animals that live in the
rocky seafloor around the UK include ross worms,
amphipods, starfish, octopus and gobies.
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Sandy Seafloor
The sandy seafloor is the part of the seabed
which is mostly made up of sand sediments. Though
it doesnt look like much would live here there a
wide number of animals that call the sandy
seafloor home. Animals which live in the sandy
seafloor around the UK include catworms, shrimps
and polychaetes.
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Food

• As well as a home all living things need food for
  energy
• For many animals this energy comes from other
  animals
• We can classify animals by how they get their
  energy

Herbivores eat only plant material

Omnivores eat both plants and animals for energy
Carnivores eat only meat or the flesh of other
animals
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Below are three marine animals, can you guess
which is an omnivore, which is a herbivore and
which is a carnivore?
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Seals are carnivores they feed mostly on squid,
octopus and fish.
Zooplankton are herbivores they feed on
phytoplankton.
Sea urchins are omnivores feeding on barnacles,
algae and seaweed.
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Trophic Pyramid

• Feeding relationships can be classified on an
  trophic (or ecological) pyramid. Trophic means
  feeding, therefore each level on the pyramid
  shows a different system of feeding. Animals fit
  into the pyramid according to how they get their
  energy..

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Producers
Producers make their own food. In the oceans they
convert energy from the sun into food through
photosynthesis. Examples of producers include
seaweeds and phytoplankton.
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Consumers
Consumers do not make their own food, instead
they consume other living things. Consumers can
be herbivores, omnivores or carnivores. There are
three levels of consumers 1st, 2nd 3rd.
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Decomposers
Decomposers do not fit into one level of the
pyramid as they are everywhere. These are the
bacteria that feed the life cycle by breaking
down waste or dead organisms.
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Food chains

• Food chains are simple diagrams showing what
  animals eat.
• The animal next up the chain eats the one below
  and so on.

• This shows the flow of energy from the bottom to
  the top.
• Food chains are more specific versions of
  ecological pyramids.

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Food webs

• Food webs are far more complicated than food
  chains.
• Food webs show the relationships between
  producers, consumers and decomposers in a
  habitat.
• A food web that links all animals and plants in
  an environment would be very confusing and hard
  to understand.

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Food webs

• To simplify food webs specific animals are used
  to represent a whole group.
• By studying food webs scientists can learn about
  relationships between animals in the marine
  environment.
• Food webs help scientists understand how fishing,
  pollution and other marine industries affect the
  oceans and the animals living there.

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Environmental Impact

• Food webs help us understand the complex
  relationships in the marine environment.
• When something happens in the environment it can
  impact on other things.
• Using the previous food web imagine what would
  happen if there was an oil spill which covered
  all the mammals and birds.
• What if all there was a massive increase in
  phytoplankton such as when there is an algal
  bloom?
• The relationships in a food web mean that when
  something happens to one organism it will have an
  effect on many of the other organisms it is
  linked to in a food chain.

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RECs

• Scientists are continually studying the seafloor
  to find out more information about it.
• Recently UK scientists have been involved in the
  Regional Environmental Characterisation surveys
  or RECs for short.
• These studies looked at the archaeology, geology
  and ecology of the seafloor around the UK.
• Here we are going to focus on the results of the
  ecological studies.
• But first, what is ecology?

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Marine Ecology

• A huge number of scientists were involved in
  creating the four RECs. One important group were
  the marine ecologists.
• Marine related to the sea or saltwater
  environment
• Ecology the study of living things and how they
  interact with each other and their environment
• Marine ecologists study living things in the
  ocean, or marine environment, and how they behave
  and interact with their environment.

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Habitat

• Ecologists can investigate habitats using many
  methods. Two methods of exploring the seafloor
  are explained here.
• When dealing with a very small area of seabed
  which is not very deep divers can be sent down.
• Once on the seafloor divers are able to take
  pictures and pick up samples.
• Another method is to use cameras and Remote
  Operate Vehicles to take photographs and video of
  the animals and their habitats.

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Animals

• To collect animals the scientists use Beam trawls
  and Hamon grabs.
• Beam trawls involve towing large nets across the
  seafloor. The net is held open by a large metal
  beam.
• These nets pick up creatures which live on and
  near the seafloor.
• Hamon grabs work by lowering large claws onto the
  seafloor from a boat. The claws then close
  collecting organisms and seafloor.
• Hamon grabs are useful for studying habitats also
  as they pick up seafloor samples.

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Food Chain

• During the RECs, scientists focused on measuring
  and recording animals which lived on and in the
  seafloor.
• They know that any changes to these organisms
  will ripple up the food chain causing problems
  for many other animals.

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Human Impact

• Now that you have seen how animals in the food
  web interact you can imagine what would happen
  when humans impact on the environment.
• The REC studies provide a benchmark of how
  healthy the seabed is, future studies can measure
  any changes.
• It is important that we keep investigating the
  seafloor to help us use it sustainably in the
  future.

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Discussion Questions

• Why are food chains and webs important to
  understand?
• What is the most important level in an trophic
  pyramid?
• What would happen to top consumers if there was
  no sun?
• Why do we need to use the sea sustainably?
• How do we know if we are using the sea
  sustainably?
• What type of consumer are you?
• What affect do you think climate change will have
  on the oceans?