STUDY GUIDE
Recommendations to follow:
1.
Answers are thought to be short in most of the cases
2.
Try as much as you can to connect the terms and understand the association between some of the concepts, to get
the whole picture about the topic. Memorizing alone can give you probably around a 70/100 in the exam, but some
questions always require to connect two or more ideas to come up with a short and precise answer.
3.
If you know most of these review questions you should do fine in the test, questions in the test will be variations of
the same themes covered in these questions.
Chapter 13: Life on the Continental Shelf
1. What determines the limits for the continental shelf ecosystem?
2. How different is the bottom of the this ecosystem as compared to the bottom of the open ocean?
3. Explain the unique features of the continental shelf ecosystem.
4. How important is the continental shelf ecosystem in relation to the overall marine diversity?
5. How much is this ecosystem affected by human activities compared to the open ocean?
6. List all the possible types of biological communities that can be found in this ecosystem
7. Explain how waves and currents (caused by winds) affect this ecosystem considering the effect on the main
physical properties: temperature and salinity
8. What are marine “fronts”? Why are these processes important for the marine communities?
9. Bottom types in the continental shelf can be hard (rocky) or soft (sandy), same that in the intertidal. The
presence of some organisms in a given community is strongly influenced by the type of substrate present.
What subtypes of substrates are common in the soft-bottom communities?
10. Mention the three possible types of spatial distributions that may occur between organisms and the factors
that may determine one type or the other
11. What is the relationship between the size of the particles in the soft bottom substrate (mud, sand) and the
oxygen concentration in the sediment? How does this affect the distribution of organisms that live in the
sediment (burrowers)?
Unvegetated soft bottom communities
12. What are the main producers in sandy bottoms?
13. What is the main producer in soft bottom communities? Why are seaweeds not normally present here?
14. Review the definition for detritus. Like in sandy intertidal communities, detritus is a very important
resource in soft bottom communities, why?
15. Some animals are deposit feeders (use the detritus that deposits at the bottom), others are suspension
feeders (use the detritus suspended in the water). Mention some animals that are either deposit or
suspension feeders in this community
Marine Biology
Instructor: Jose Bava, Ph.D
STUDY GUIDE
16. Deposit feeders tend to be dominant in muddy areas, while suspension feeders predominate in sandy areas.
Explain why
17. What is the importance of tube-builders and bioturbators in this community?
Vegetated soft bottom communities: Seagrass beds
18. Compare the productivity of seagrass beds with non-vegetated beaches. Explain what characteristics
seagrasses have that seaweeds lack as to allow for such a high primary production
19. Explain why seagrass beds are able to sustain an important food web
Vegetated hard bottom communities: Kelp beds
20. What type of organisms are the main producers in the hard-bottom communities?
21. What type of seaweeds do kelps belong to?
22. In what parts of the world can we find kelp communities?
23. What types of physical conditions are needed for kelps to be dominant in these communities?
24. How does the ocean circulation affect the distribution of kelps in the west and east coast?
25. What animals are the main grazers (herbivores) in the kelp communities?
26. What are the possible reasons of explosions in the population number of these grazers that have a terrible
impact in the kelp communities?
Marine Biology
Instructor: Jose Bava, Ph.D