Chapter 1Chapter 1Science and Marine BiologyScience and Marine Biology

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Key Concepts

• Marine and terrestrial environments are interrelated, interactive, and interdependent.

• The ocean is an important source of food and other resources for humans.

• Marine biology is the study of the sea’s diverse inhabitants and their relationships to each other and their environment.

Key Concepts

• Marine laboratories play an important role in education, conservation, and biological research.

Key Concepts

• It is important to study marine biology in order to make informed decisions about how the oceans and their resources should be used and managed.

Importance of the Oceans and Marine Organisms

• World ocean covers nearly 71% of earth’s surface

• Oceans interacting with the atmosphere affect weather patterns on a global scale

Importance of the Oceans and Marine Organisms

• Marine Organisms: – substantial part of

human food supply- are used as subjects of

scientific study for many areas of research

- are useful to medicine and industry providing jobs for many people worldwide

Study of the Sea and Its Inhabitants

• Oceanography– study of the oceans and their phenomena,

such as waves, currents and tides

• Marine biology– study of the living organisms that inhabit the

seas and their interactions with each other and their environment

• Knowledge of these disciplines will promote marine conservation.

Marine Biology: A History of Changing Perspectives

• Early studies of marine organisms- traced back to ancient Greeks and Romans- Aristotle and the “ladder of life”, a scheme of classification

• Renewed interest in marine organisms– voyage of the HMS Beagle and Charles

Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, theory of evolution through natural selection

– discovery of deep sea organisms on retrieved transatlantic telegraph cable

Marine Biology: A History of Changing Perspectives

• Beginnings of modern marine science– Challenger expedition exploring world’s

oceans• 4,700 new species collected and described• significance of plankton receives attention marine

studies in the United States• expeditions of Alexander Agassiz funding of the

first marine biology laboratory: Anderson Summer School of Natural History, predecessor of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole

• forerunner of other U.S. marine laboratories

Marine Biology: A History of Changing Perspectives

• Marine biology in the twentieth century– Fridtjof Nansen’s Arctic expedition– Sir Alistair Hardy’s Antarctic expedition– impact of human activities on marine

environment gains attention

Marine Biology: A History of Changing Perspectives

• Marine biology today– deep-sea submersibles– discovering ties between terrestrial and

marine environments– information sharing via the Internet