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Ocean

Biome Project

By: Prabhjot, Amanjoit, Balreen and Ramneet

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Table Of Contents

•Introduction to our biome, The Ocean

•The map of the 5 major oceans

•Important Definitions

•Ocean Animal Life ( bibliography, definitions and questions included)

•Ocean Plant Life( bibliography, definitions and questions included)

•Ocean’s Physical Landscape/Habitat and weather ( bibliography, definitions and questions included)

•Human Impact on the Ocean ( bibliography, definitions and questions included)

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Introduction

The ocean is a biome that is home to many different species, has many different plants, it’s impacted by humans, has different physical landscape, weather and habitats for sea animals. The ocean’s in the world occupy nearly 71% of our planet’s surface. There are four major ocean’s on earth (the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean) but there are many smaller oceans and seas.

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Important Definition:

Ocean: A very large stretch of sea, especially one of the five oceans of the world, the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic. Also the body of salt water covering approximately 71% of the earth's surface. A very large expanse of sea, in particular, each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically.

Important Characteristics:

• We call earth "the blue planet".• 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered by oceans and freshwater features. • Water is the third most common molecule in the Universe (after H2 and CO) • The most abundant substance on earth and the only naturally occurring inorganic liquid. • Only on earth and no other planet in the solar system water can exist in a liquid state.• Every life form we know has evolved from water. • Invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals all started their evolution in the ocean

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Ocean Animal Life

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Different fish:

There are many animals that live in the ocean. All the animals that live in the ocean are separated into different phyla’s which are also known as groups. The ocean has roughly about 35 different phyla’s with many different ocean animals and many different species. The ocean is home to many different types of fish. The largest fish in the ocean, the giant blue whale, can reach up to 80 feet in length and is a mammal. It weighs more than 50 adult elephants. Other species that live in the ocean are halichoeres ornatissimus, naso caesius and siganus magnificus. Scientists say that there are more than 2 million different species of marine life.

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Food and food chains/webs:

Shallow areas in an ocean are home to many different plants which are the food to many different ocean animals. Plants such as algae, kelp, coral, seaweed, sea grasses, mangroves and plankton are just a few of very many plants that fish and other ocean animals eat. Ocean animals also eat one another. When a plant that is a producer such as, plankton, feeds another animal and that animal later feeds another animal, it’s called a food chain. A food web however, is when many food chains are connected.

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In this picture above, is a simple food chain thatexists down in the ocean.

In this picture above is once again another simplefood chain but in this on the food chain starts fromthe biggest animal which is the shark in this case and itworks its way up.

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Questions:

1.What would happen to the animals if something were to change the landscape of a particular biome?

If the landscape of an ocean changed it would affect animals because there are certain things of a landscape that animals need. For example, some ocean animals use big rocks as shelter or for their eggs to grow and hatch. If something like the big rocks was removed it would be very difficult for small fishes or other ocean animals to find shelter and lay eggs. Also of that ocean animal doesn’t end up finding another safe place to lay its eggs, than eventually that species can be at risk of becoming extinct.

2. What would happen to animals if the temperature were to lower significantly?  If the temperature did lower significantly nothing would happen to ocean animals because ocean animals live in cool waters. The lower temperature may affect any plants or ocean animals that live in the shallow areas of the ocean because the sun’s rays hit the top of the ocean and give off heat to the top layer which is technically the shallow areas. The heat from the sun is later distributed into the rest of the water.

3. What would happen to animals if a developer wants to build on the land? If a developer were to build on the surface of the ocean, a lot of the animals in the ocean that live in the shallow areas would be in danger because that’s the top of the ocean were the building begins. It would affect other areas of the ocean because if a builder or developer were creating a island on the surface then it would require things from the bottom of the ocean such as sand and rocks.

 

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4. What if an animal becomes extinct?

If an animal in the ocean becomes extinct, it can ruin a food chain but has the potential to ruin a food web. It ruins a food chain because a food chain starts off with producers, and consumers feed of producers. Then the consumers feed off one another but if one of the consumers becomes extinct, then another consumer has no one else to feed off of because it can’t really eat something too much bigger than its own size. This can later lead to more animals becoming extinct because they have no one to feed off of. It doesn’t really affect a food web because there is much more variety of plants and other animals that a consumer, prey or predator can feed off of.

5. What would happen to animals if a plant were destroyed?

If a plant were destroyed, a consumer which relies on a producer would die or eventually become extinct. It would die or become extinct because producers are plants that make their own food using the sun which is a process called photosynthesis. They then give off food which consumers eat. The consumers then give food to predators and etc. So without plants, a food chain or food web wouldn’t be able to exist and so therefore there would be no animals.

6. What would happen to animals if the rainfall greatly increases or decreases? If the rainfall greatly increases in an ocean, than it doesn’t make much of a difference because it adds to the water in the ocean. If the rainfall decreases than it can either cause an extreme loss in water because of the sun constantly providing heat towards the ocean or it can cause extreme rise in sea levels due to the sun melting arctic ice and the water flowing out into other oceans. This either way depends on global warming.

 

My 2 other questions that were answered in my research are:1. What is the biggest fish that lives in the ocean? 2. How many different species there are in the ocean?

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The Websites I used:

1. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/tsunami/quizprintout.shtml 2. http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/ocean_life.html3. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_different_species_of_fish_live_in_the_ocean4. The sqworl website with all the different links5. http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/marinefish/scientific/6. http://www.kidzone.ws/water/

Definitions:

•Phylum: large groups of animals organized by physical similarities.•Animalia: taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals.•Invertebrates: animals that don’t have backbones.•Food web: a system of interconnected food chains.•Food chain: a series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of •food.•Oceanography: The exploration and scientific study of the ocean and its phenomena. Also called oceanology.

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Plant Life

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This food web is a great way to show how each organism depends on others to survive. The algae plankton uses photosynthesis to make sugars out of carbon dioxide using the radiant heat from the sun. We also need to remember that phytoplankton or other plants are the base of food chain and webs. But consumers like the animal plankton consume the algae to get their nutrients. This process goes in a cycle which is basically the food web/chain (food web= interconnected food chains in an ecosystem, food chain= a chain showing process where plants and animals create food, nutrients and energy from the sun and by consuming each other in a specific habitat or on a specific type of species)

This is picture of a Kelp forest, these are Underwater forests that have a high density ofKelp. Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans.

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Important plants in the ocean

Algae:

•A large group of simple non-flowering plants Kelp:

•Large brown seaweed that typically has a long, tough stalk with a broad frond divided into strips. Some kinds grow to a very large size and form underwater “forests” that support a large population of animals•It is also the largest marine plant that also grows in the cold coastal waters. Phytoplankton:

•Small microscopic plants.•Most abundant plants that exists in the ocean •Considered as one of the most important plants as well because they clean up as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as the world’s forests •They use a process called photosynthesis where plants basically breath in carbon dioxide and breath out oxygen•Even though we don’t consume phytoplankton directly, every fish we eat or every whale we glaze at is comprised of molecules that were first transformed into living matter by phytoplankton  Phytoplankton  

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Seaweed:

•Seaweed grows in shallow waters because it needs more sunlight•Seaweed can also sometimes be found living as far as 250 meters below the ocean's surface•In terms of appearance, seaweed can be green, red or brown •It is estimate that there are over 400 varieties of seaweed that are used throughout the world for things such as food, medicine etc.

Extra facts on plant life:

There are many more other plants like red algae, coralline algae, sea grass etc. To be more specific, these plants can be found in places such as the Indian Ocean. So can eelgrass which is commonly found in the shallows. Did you also know that non-algae plants that can survive in the sea are often found in the shallows as well? These plants have adapted to their environment. 

Temperate: having a moderate climate, temperate latitude lies between the tropics and polar regionsPhotosynthesis: the process by which plants make sugar out of carbon dioxide using the radiant heat from the sun oxygen Abundant: Having plenty of something or having in great quantities Food web: interconnected food chains in an ecosystemFood web: A series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food in a specific ecosystem

Definitions

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Questions:

1. What would happen if the temperature were to rise or lower significantly?

Rising temperatures are causing a decline of marine algae and/or phytoplankton over the past century. These are microscopic organisms that generate roughly half of all organic matter. Don’t forget that phytoplankton play an important role in helping our environment, especially now because of global warming.

2.What would happen if something were to change the landscape biome?

There are many things that could happen:

•By building things like oil plant, the ocean’s food web is being disrupted because lots of plants and animals will be destroyed. If even one plant is destroyed then a food web could very much be damaged and a food chain could collapse entirely. This is so because all plants and animals depend on each other and plants are especially important since they are the base of a food chain or web. •Also, sand from the bottom of the sea is used to make islands which is disrupting the food web again and it also deprives plants of their habitats

3. What if a developer wants to build on the land?

If a developer built on the land then a lot of machinery would be used. This also means that the ocean and the atmosphere would be polluted. This is obviously an important issue that is greatly affecting us. We shouldn’t forget about the animals and plants that would be in danger due to the gas, smoke and the general pollution that machines give off. Another hazardous risk would be an oil spill which has actually happened in the past. Incident like these had and do threaten animals like the brown pelican. Not to mention that it takes a great amount of time and money to clean them.

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4.What if the animals become extinct?

If animals became extinct then the other animals or predators that consume it will be in danger of losing their nutrients and food. This will again be disrupting the food web since all animals and plants need each other to survive. Also, the animal that becomes extinct can’t consume others so there will be an over population of that species.

5. What if plants were destroyed?

Plants and plant life play a huge role in the ocean’s everyday ecosystem and food web. They contribute in many ways as well. First off they are the base of which other animals need to survive. This is because plants create their own food using photosynthesis so they help the environment by removing the atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Also, they are food for other animals and predator like how the algae plankton is consumed by the animal plankton and then it’s consumed by the sea ducks and silversides.

6. What if the rainfall greatly increased or decreased?

If the ocean level decreased then all the plants and animals that live in the shallow area will have trouble. For example, eelgrass typically grows in the shallows but once the water decreases then it won’t be able to survive since it will lose its main habitat: the water. On the other hand, if the water were to increase then the plants that live in the shallows will still have trouble. This is because they need sunlight which is exactly why they live there but once the sea level increases then they will have difficulty getting the sunlight they need. Without the sunlight the plants won’t be able to go through photosynthesis. Hence they won’t be able to survive either.

My 2 other questions that were answered in my research are:1. What role do pants play in an ocean food web?2. How do plants and animals relate and connect in an ocean biome?

 

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The websites I used:

•http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/oceans/science/marine-planning-and-conservation/phytoplankton/?gclid=CIfbg9y5kLACFUMCQAodXnDAqA

 •http://www.seaweed.ie/ •http://www.ehow.com/about_5422393_seaweed.html •http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-29/us/oil.spill.wildlife_1_oil-spill-oil-rig-explosion-director-of-bird-conservation?_s=PM:US http://www.trails.com/list_9578_list-ocean-plants.html•http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/ocean_plants_21.html•http://www.sciencesource2.ca/resources/SS_active_art/active_art/SEinteractive_gr09_ch01_pg31/index.html •http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704895004575395273977526844.html •http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/kelp-gardens/#/algae-british-columbia_48_600x450.jpg

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Physical landscape/habitat & weather

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Physical Landscape of an Ocean:

•The area of the world ocean is 361 million square kilometres•The volume of the world ocean is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres•The maximum depth if 10,923 meters•The ocean floor is made up of shelves, plains and mountains•At the bottom of the Ocean it is flat but there are rocks, coral reef, sand, volcanoes and many other things•Oceans are large salt water bodies connected•The ocean had a bluish colour and it is a composite of several contributing agents•The oceans currents also affect the temperature of the Earth’s climate by transferring heat from the tropics to the Polar Regions and transferring warm or cold air and precipitation to coastal regions, where winds may carry them in land.

The 5 Oceans:

There are 5 oceans in the world. Those are the Pacific Ocean (the biggest one), The Arctic Ocean, The Atlantic Ocean, The Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean.They all have different temperatures since they are located all over the world and because of that i will be talking to you about the Arctic Ocean which is in the North hemisphere and the Pacific Ocean which is in both the North and South hemispheres

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The Arctic Ocean:

The Arctic Ocean is located between North America and Asia. It is connected to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the smallest and shallowest ocean out of all 5 oceans in the world. The Arctic’s temperature is moderated by the Arctic Ocean. So the temperature varies seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes. In the Arctic they have long cold winters and short cool summers. The average temperature in January ranges from about -40 degrees to 0 degrees and it can drop down to -50 degrees. The average temperature in July ranges from about -10 degrees to 10 degrees.

The Pacific Ocean:

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. It encompasses approximately one- third of the Earth’s surface. It extends from the arctic in the north to the south (Antarctica). The equator subdivides the ocean into north and south. The Pacific Ocean is approximately 622 million cubic km. It has a average depth of 14,000 feet. The temperature in of the ocean rangers in the 50 degrees to 60 degrees and in July it ranges from 60 to 70 degrees. As you can see it is way warmer in the south oceans then the north oceans.

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Questions:

1. What if a developer wants to build on the land, what would be affected? If a developer was to build on the ocean water the water would get polluted because the machinery they are using to make the place uses gas and it could leak into the ocean. Also the sand is a part of the landscape and it would be picked out and be used for what they are making. Like they made a airport in Japan on the sea. 2. What would happen if something were to change the landscape of an ocean? If something such as a plant was removed from the oceans landscape then animals that eat that plant will not get it and they will slowly be extinct. They could happen to all animals if they were extinct and if the sand or soil was taken away plants would not be able to grow.

3. What would happen if the rainfall greatly increased or decreased? If the rainfall greatly increased the ocean level would increase and the islands would sink in the ocean. This is bad for the people, who will have a flood and lose their habitat. Also by this many people will become homeless and will be searching for homes. If the rainfall decreased then the islands would not be able to grow their plants. Also it will become hotter in the south and in the arctic there will be less ice which will cause more global warming. 4. What if the temperature was to increase or decrease in the ocean?

If the temperature was to increase in the Arctic Ocean then the ice glaciers would melt and the ocean level would increase. Also ice would be floating everywhere, which is bad for ship transportation. This could cause another Titanic. If the temperature was to increase in the southern oceans then the ocean level would decrease since the sun is taking away the water. Also it is already hotter making the islands feel even hotter. This would make people, plants and animals suffer.

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5. What would happen if a plant was destroyed?

If a plant was destroyed then a piece of the landscape would be taken away and animals would not be able to eat that plant and eventually the animals would be extinct. This would destroy a food chain or a food web. This would affect many animals because they would not be able to get the nutrients they need.

My 2 other question that were answered in my research are:1.What are the range temperatures in the south for January and July (Pacific Ocean) and the range temperatures in the North for January and July(Arctic Ocean)? 2.What is on the bottom of the ocean floor?

Definitions: • Hemisphere: Half of a sphere; half of the earth ( Northern and Southern hemisphere)• Temperature: The degrees of heat present in a substance or object• Volume: How much liquid something can hold in.• Depth: The distance from the top or surface of something to its bottom.• Increase: become or make greater in size, intensity or degree. • Decrease: become or make smaller in size, intensity or degree• Landscape: all the visible features of an area• Weather: The state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, cloudiness, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc• Habitat: The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism

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Waves of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific ocean only have water waves.

The Arctic Ocean. The arctic ocean has ice floating on top of the water since it is way cooler in the arctic ocean then the Pacific ocean.

The ocean floor. Has many thing such as rocks, sandCoral reef, volcanoes, seashells and so much more.

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The websites I used:

• All the links on sqworl:• National Geographic website: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean•http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0860186.html

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Human Impact

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1st Point:

The main human impact affecting the ocean is Global warming! I know that’s not a new thing for most of us to hear that Global warming is the biggest human impact. It’s affecting the ocean because the ocean temperature has risen by 0.10°C from the surface to a depth of 700 m. Also cause the ocean biogeochemistry is also changing.

2nd Point:

The second biggest human impact is fishing you might be saying fishing but how does that affect the ocean. Fishing affects the ocean because when fishermen want to fish they take away other sea animal food away. Like for example a shark eats fish and when a fisherman want to fish they mostly take away the sharks dinner or even lunch away and the shark will have to swim more to find food. In addition if the sharks can’t swim anymore and the shark sadly dies and if that happens to another and another sea animal that eats fish sooner than later we will not have any animal in the ocean cause not one does the sharks eat fish many other animals do like whales, Dolphin, Blue Whale and many more!

3rd Point:

The last important human impact is on the ocean is OIL SPILLS. Most of you guys might be wondering how does the happen an Oil spills happen when people make mistakes or are careless and cause an oil tanker to leak oil into the ocean. There are a few more ways an oil spill can occur. That’s how a oil spills happen! Now that I told you how an oil spill happens let me tell you how it affects the ocean. Sea animals are affected by oil in many ways. The sea animals bodies may get covered in oil, which causes build up in the air bubbles. These air bubbles are located in their fur and help them survive the cold oceans. They act like a covering for their body and help the otters to float.

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When oil builds up in the air bubbles, the otters may die of low body temperature. Many sea otters are being placed in captivity after an oil spill until the otters are cleaned and ready to live in the ocean again.Facts about an oil spill...Because the spill impacted 1,300 miles, it took the Exxon Valdez Company four summers to clean up the spill. Some oil may still remain on the beaches. It took 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats, 100 airplanes, and the Navy, Army, and Air Force to clean up the spill. Exxon spent about $2.1 billion for the clean up.

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Oil spill in an ocean. Map of human impact on the ocean’s

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Questions

1. What would happen if something were to change the landscape of a particular biome?

A change in the landscape would affect human impact because human rely on the ocean for food but if the landscape changes then plants that animals eat become extinct and there for animals start to become extinct also human will loss sea food.

2. What if the temperature were to raise or lower significantly?

If the temperature were to raise or lower significantly that will shange the change amount of pressure and that will cause a higher tide.That’s why at night its high tide, because the pressure changes.

3. What if an animal becomes extinct?

If an animal become extinct then it would affect human impact because since humans rely on sea food from the ocean. So when that sea animal becomes extinct we don’t have that sea animal to eat anymore.

4. What if a plant were destroyed, or if the rainfall greatly increases or decreases?

If a plant were destroyed in the ocean It wouldnt make a differnce then because its just one plant in the entire ocean and there is 100 more so if one plant. If the rainfall increases then it still doesn’t make a difference because rainfall increases humidity and it’s going to go back in the air anyways.

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My 2 other questions are:

1.Are there any more human impacts that are not really important?

There is way more human impact affecting the ocean like for example the different kind of pollutions that are affecting the ocean. Noise pollution is one of the more recent threats to marine life, thermal pollution is a by-product of the ocean's use as a cooling agent and many more. But if we step away from the pollution collection there still Chemicals released into the ocean causing a myriad of problems.

2. What did I learn from this biome project?

The new and great information I learned from this project was that so many thing are affecting the ocean and some of the things I researched I had no clue something so little can be a huge problem.  

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Definitions:

•Human Impact: Human impact on the environment can be explained in two important ways. One is how humans have adapted to and changed their environment to survive and make life more comfortable and convenient.  The other is the effects of these changes and adaptations.

•Temperatures: Temperature is defined as the average total kinetic energy per particle in a system. In common terms, it means how hot or cold something is or feels, usually expressed as relative to an arbitrary point (e.g. water freezes at 0oC and this is normally called a "cold" temperature; the human body is around 37oC and this is sometimes considered "warm" or "hot").

•Global warming: A gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants

•Oil spills: An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution

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The websites I used:

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/rising-ocean-temperatures-near-worstcase-predictions-20090619-cmcs.html

http://megan-jungwi.suite101.com/how-global-warming-affects-the-ocean-a144836 http://www.articlesbase.com/science-articles/the-human-impact-on-the-ocean-1706358.html http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/olhum.htm

http://www.protectplanetocean.org/introduction/introbox/humanimpact/introduction-item.html

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The End