Marine Biology
Drill:
Explain how floatation in plankton
is important for their survival.
Agenda:
Review plankton
Discuss Marine Plants (Kelp Forests)
Review
Outcome:
List and label the types of marine
plants that exist.
Explain the importance of stability
in an ecosystem, specifically the
kelp beds in California.
Marine Plants
• There are four categories of marine plants:
•
•
•
•
marine algae
sea grasses
marsh grass
mangroves
• Marine Plants provide habitats for many marine creatures including shrimp,
bivalves, fish, plankton, and other small organisms.
Microscopic Algae
• There are three types of algae that
exist:
• Green Algae
• Brown Algae
• Red Algae
Sea Grasses
• Seagrasses are grass-like flowering plants that live completely
submerged in marine and estuarine waters.
• Seagrasses require lots of light, so the depths at which they occur in
the ocean are limited by light availability.
Sea Grasses
Marsh Grasses
• Marsh grasses are softstem plants that have
adapted to thrive in soil
that is continuously
saturated.
• Marshes can live in either
saltwater or freshwater
wetlands.
Mangrove
• Mangrove trees are able to survive in high salt concentrations by
excluding some salt at the root level.
• Mangrove trees can tolerate salt in quantities that would kill other
plants because of their raised roots.
Mangrove Tree
Mangrove Tree
Marine Kelp (Brown Algae)
• Marine Kelp
• Type of brown algae
• Grows from 10 inches up to 2 feet a day
• Structure
•
•
•
•
Blade: absorbs light to photosynthesize
Gas Bubble: helps structure to float
Stipe: Stem like structure, support
Holdfast: Root like structure that holds the kelp in place
Marine Kelp (Brown Algae)
Kelp
Forest
Make sure to look over:
• Levels of the Oceanic Zone
• Epi, Meso, Bathyl, Abbysal, and Hadal
• Symbiotic Relationships
• Examples and scenarios
• Food chains and food webs
• How they work
• Each level of the food pyramid (and if one was removed)
• Creating one from a reading
• Plankton (Phyto and Zoo)
• Types we looked at last class
• Differences between them
• Their importance
• Marine Plants
• Parts (kelp)
• Their importance