Pteropods,I- Ocean Acidification and Food Chains Questions

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Diablo Valley College *

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Geography

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Apr 30, 2024

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docx

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Pteropods, Acidification and Food Chains 1. What are pteropods? Pteropods are a type of zooplankton that are keystone species in the food chain and many animals in the ocean depend on them to play their role as primary producers. 2. What percentage of a juvenile pink salmon’s diet is made up of pteropods? 50% 3. How is ocean acidification impacting the sea butterfly (pteropod)? Ocean acidification lowers the availability of the minerals needed by pteropods to build their shell, this may result in lethal consequences for them in the next few decades if ocean acidification continues at it’s current pace. 4. Pink salmon lifecycle: Where do pink salmon hatch? In freshwater rivers. Where do they feed and grow? In the ocean. Where do pink salmon spawn and die? In freshwater rivers. 5. Pink salmon are direct prey to several organisms discussed on the previous page. What are three organisms that feed on pink salmon? 1. Steller Sea Lions 2. Killer Whales 3. Sharks 6. Let’s say you’re working for the forest service and observe a decrease in tree ring growth of western red cedars along coastal rivers in the Pacific Northwest. You also just attended a symposium where you saw several research presentations on acidification of the Pacific Ocean causing sharp declines in pteropod populations. Using the information in this module, explain a possible hypothesis explaining
how these two seemingly separate events- one marine and one terrestrial- could be tightly connected. hint: remember, this unit is on food webs 😉 Ocean acidification is leading to a decrease in pteropod populations. Pteropods are a vital food source for salmon. If there is a decrease in pteropod populations, there is a decrease in salmon populations due to scarcity of food sources. In the salmon lifecycle, salmon will spawn and die, and when their carcasses decompose and spread their nutrients across the river ecosystem, this benefits all surrounding trees and plants due to the nitrogen and phosphorus content. With these factors in mind, it is logical to assume that when there is a decline in pteropod populations, there is a decrease in salmon populations, which leads to a lack of nutrients available for plants in river ecosystems where salmon are present.
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