Study Questions - Oceanography
Final Exam Topics

Note that the final exam for this class is cumulative. Lectures 21 - 25 (Open Ocean through Fisheries) will account for about 60% of the final. Topics covered in earlier parts of the course will account for about 40% of the final.   A study guide for the cumulative part of the final exam is available by clicking here.  The following study questions apply to the part of the final exam that covers recent material.

Lecture 21: Open Ocean Communities
1. What is ecology?
2. How does an organism's habitat differ from its niche?
3. What determines how successful an organism will be within a community?
4. What are some biological interactions that can influence the success of an organism within a community?
5. How can competition alter the distribution of a particular species?
6. Population growth can follow either a "J"-shaped or an "S"-shaped curve. What's the difference between these two cases? Which is more commonly found in nature? Under what conditions would the other type be found?
7. Describe the feeding strategies discussed in class and the habitats that are well-suited for each strategy.
8. What are the advantages of "schooling" for species in the open ocean?  What is "cooperative hunting"?  What other strategies are used by blue-water organisms to aid in hunting and in avoiding predation?
9. What camouflage strategies are most effective in the sunlit zone, midwater zone and deep sea?
10. What is the DSL? What happens to the DSL during the day? At night?
11. Food is sparsely distributed in the deep sea.  What anatomical adaptations do deep-water fish have that help them survive in this habitat?
12. What is a parasitic male? Why is this strategy useful in the deep sea?
13. What is hermaphroditism? Why is this strategy useful in the deep sea?
14. Where does the food that sustains deep sea floor communities come from?

Lecture 22: Coastal Marine Communities
1. Why do coastal and open ocean communities differ so greatly?
2. What physical and biological factors challenge organisms that live in rocky intertidal zones?  What opportunities make this environment desirable for many species?
3. Why is the distribution of organisms within the rocky intertidal zone "vertically banded"?
4. What are some adaptations that organisms use to cope with exposure to air and the changes of temperature typical of rocky intertidal areas?
5. What types of animals thrive on sand and cobble beaches? Why are sand and cobble beaches challenging environments for other types of organisms?
6. What conditions are needed for growth of a healthy kelp forest?
7. Of the two kelp species discussed in class, which is better adapted to high energy environments and why?
8. What is the "understory"?  Are understory plants and kelp plants highly productive at the same time of the year?  Why or why not?
9. Describe some of the ways that animals can "make a living" in a kelp forest. How does this compare with the ways to make a living in the open ocean or sandy beach environments?
10. Why are kelp forests good nursery grounds for many species of fish?
11. Why are marine mammals common visitors to or inhabitants of kelp forests?
12. What is a "keystone predator"?
13. Describe the relationship between kelp, sea urchins and sea otters. Why is this relationship important to the entire kelp forest ecosystem?

Lecture 23: Nature's Gardens - Coral Reefs
1. What is coral? What are zooxanthellae? What is their relationship to coral?
2. What is the difference between the living and nonliving (i.e., hard) parts of a coral reef?
3. How do fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls differ?
4. What conditions are required for the development of a healthy reef? Where are these conditions (and hence coral reefs) found?
5. How does the biodiversity and productivity of coral reefs compare with the biodiversity and productivity of most tropical ocean waters?
6. Describe some strategies that reef inhabitants use to deal with the intense competition in this habitat.
7. What benefits do coral reefs provide to society?
8. What natural and human-related problems threaten the health of coral reefs?

Lecture 24: Hot Vents, Cold Seeps - Life in Extreme Environments
1. What is chemosynthesis? How is it different from photosynthesis?
2. Where are hydrothermal vents found?
3. Where does the hydrothermal vent fluid (which fuels chemosynthesis) come from?
4. How do hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and brine pools differ?
5. What organisms form the bottom of the food web in hydrothermal vent, cold seep and brine pool communities?
6. Where do animals that are part of a brine pool community actually live? Why?
7. Why are chemosynthetic communities in the deep sea of interest to scientists who study life in other parts of the solar system and in other parts of the universe?

Lecture 25: Sustainable Seas - Marine Fisheries
1. Where are most fish caught?  Why?
2. What are some challenges currently facing the fishing industry? (both from economic and environmental perspectives)
3. How does purse seining, trawling and longlining work?
4. In addition to catching the targeted species, what other effects are associated with the use of each of these three fishing techniques? (i.e., purse seining, trawling, longlining)
5. Why is abandoned or lost fishing equipment an environmental concern?
6. What is maximum sustainable yield?
7. From a management perspective, what factors need to be considered when calculating MSY?
8. What are the consequences of exceeding MSY? (in the short-run and in the long-run)
9. What is the status of the world's fishing industry today - are catches increasing, level or declining in most regions?  How does this compare with the status of the industry 30-40 years ago?
10. How does a fishery collapse? Describe the two scenarios of collapsed fisheries discussed in class. Which scenario has a brighter long-term outlook and why?
11. What are the properties of species that can be profitably maricultured?
12. Why is mariculture expected to be important to the future of the fishing industry? 
13. What are the challenges facing the mariculture industry in the U.S. today?
14. Are any species profitably maricultured in the U.S. today?  If so, name a few.