Imagine you are at the bottom of the ocean, and there are hydrothermal vents ejecting hot lava. Adding to your misery, there are huge amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas everywhere that are poisonous to your body. In reality, this is the giant tube worm’s ecosystem. Ecosystems are all of the living things (plants/animals) and the non-living things that live in a specific area and interact with each other. Ecosystems can be of any size. In an ecosystem, there are biotic and abiotic components that are all linked. The pelagic zone or “open ocean zone”, where the giant tube worm, an underwater animal that lives near hydrothermal vents, lives is located next to the continental slope/drop off. The water is much deeper here. At the surface, there is …show more content…
Kang suspects that the worm bridges two temperature zones because the bacteria in its gut require warmth while its red plume harvests nutrients in the cooler water above” (nationalgeographic.com). Battling the harsh ecosystem, the giant tube worm’s plume helps it survive because the plume extends to the cool water to gather nutrients. It also has lots of blood vessels with large amounts of hemoglobin to help carry oxygen while living in extreme sulfide infested hydrothermal vents. In addition, the plume is retractable when threatened. Moreover, the bridging of the two temperature zones helps by supplying nutrients in the cooler water, while providing a heated home for the bacteria thus helping the giant tube worm’s symbiotic relationship. The giant tube worm’s second adaptation is the combination of fatty acids in their lipid membranes and proton pumping mechanism. Extreme Marine reports, “In response to the immense pressure and low temperature of the deep ocean, tubeworms are able to increase the relative amount of rigid, double bonded unsaturated fatty acids in their lipid membranes. This prevents the membranes from packing densely together and ultimately solidifying (Cossins and Bowler, 1990). R.pachyptila also maintains a …show more content…
Modern fishing methods have first and foremost created serious problems for ocean ecosystems. Scholastic Scope states, “The populations of almost all fish species that we eat have shrunken, some drastically, as a result of overfishing, or catching fish faster than they can reproduce” (Dignan 14). Sadly, fish cannot reproduce fast enough to sustain their populations when different fishing techniques drain their ecosystem’s health. Because humans are relatively new organisms, fish, a much older species, have not adapted to modern fishing techniques and overfishing in the sea. Therefore, oceans are at risk because fish cannot compete with newer, more efficient fishing techniques produced by humans. Climate change is furthermore another major threat to oceans. As published by Scholastic Scope, “Warming ocean waters, rising sea levels, and violent storms disrupt the lives of many species and affect fragile marine ecosystems” (Dignan 14). Although climate change may now be a controversial issue, its footprint and effects have no doubt left their mark. Powerful and destructive climate change has also been the culprit of extinction for many other animals such as the marine animals during the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Since things often repeat itself in history, the ocean could have a Holocene extinction event, which would completely
Overfishing is a death sentence to the world’s oceans. As technology continues to improve a great deal of fish can be caught quicker; but at what cost? The effects of overfishing can lead to the extinction of not just the animals being fished, but also the predators that rely on fish to eat. Ninety percent of the ocean’s largest animals have been wiped out due to overfishing (“Overfishing- A Global Disaster”, 2011). National Geographic cites the academic journal Science (2006) that predicts by 2048, all fisheries will collapse due to lack of ocean wildlife. Fish are not the only animal caught in the nets used by fishing vessels. Often animals such as dolphins, sharks, turtles, and seabirds are
While these numbers are encouraging, environmentalist and the fishing industry have different ideas and techniques that they believe will solve the problem to benefit all. However, all agree that there should be better resource management to avoid the most devastating effects that come from overfishing. Regardless of which measure is taken, it is clear that measures need to be taken now in order to preserve the ocean’s delicate
Just last month, a deadly worm was found in not one, but four locations in the U.S. state of Florida. This worm, until recently, was documented in only twenty-one countries, most of which were island nations. Although the New Guinea Flatworm may seem as a highly dangerous predator, it is only about two inches in length and mainly targets snails for its nutrition. These worms are not harmful to humans, but they will feast on any soft creature in the soil. In order to eat snails or any critters with a hard shell, the New Guinea Flatworm latches itself onto the shell’s opening and then spits out its own stomach through the opening in its belly. This allows an acidic goo to dissolve the snail’s flesh and the worm can continue on with its meal by swallowing both its stomach and the snail.
This worm has other things it can eat as well. The one thing this worm loves to eat is the snail eggs it finds when it attaches itself to the bottom of the cabbage leaves and when it is searching for it's prey as well. Many scientists have said that the new guinea flatworm is one of the fifteen tenth largest dangerous and threatening invasion on the united states. They say it continues to grow even this year as well. It fact many people say that when it starts to develop the worms never stop growing and developing and continue to grow and grow and take over populations and specific areas in the united states. Many relationships with other species in the worm occur because the worm continues to invade state by state ,county by county or even area by area and it is causing problems everywhere. Another reason the specific species relationships happen is because the worms continue to have offspring and then they will continue to develop and develop. The next reason is the flatworm can carry a parasitic disease that infects rats and can be passed on to
The purpose of this assignment is to learn, observe and experience the biology of the Tobacco Hornworm through the different stages of its lifecycle, along with describing the processes which occur through each development stage. When I picked up my hornworm, I received three eggs in the tubular container. During my examination, the hornworms lived in two environments. They first lived in the small, tubular container they arrived in until they outgrew it. I then placed them in a large plastic container for the remainder of their lifecycle.
The general life cycle of a lungworm begins with an ingestion of infective larvae. The infective larvae then penetrate the intestinal wall . From here larvae migrate into the lungs through the bloodstream. The infected larvae reside in the lungs until the development into an adult lungworm
Extremophiles are organisms that are adapted to not only withstand but thrive in extreme conditions. R. pachyptila or “giant tube worm” is a barophile found on the Pacific Ocean floor able to withstand extremely high pressures. It can grow up to 2.4 metres and inhabits environments with a temperature range of 2 to 30 degrees Celsius. It is one of many organisms that reside near hydrothermal vents, specifically black smokers that produce high levels of hydrogen sulphide.
The Nightcrawler worm is, like other species of worms, a hermaphrodite. Although the worm contains the sexual organs of both the genders, they still need to mate to reproduce. The two worms lie alongside each other and transfer sperm to the both of them. Each worm will lay capsules to be used as a cocoon for the egg. When the capsules break fully formed tiny worms will emerge. It is said that they prefer to mate during the spring and fall time. It takes a year for the tiny worms to fully grow, and it is also said worms live for 3-8 years, although that isn’t
The oceans is an essential component to surviving, but it’s also one of the most affected by the climate change. According to the EPA website, the greenhouse gases emitted trap heat and this heat is increasing the temperature of the oceans around the world. Over the past three decades, the surfaces temperature of oceans has been increase higher than any other time period. The oceans are a vital part of surviving; it provides 50 percent of all the oxygen in the world. However, with surface temperature increasing, at a rate of 0.3 Celsius per decade, this will result higher sea levels and higher ocean currents. The ocean is an important part to humanity, it provides millions of people with a source of food, and the change in temperature will cause many ocean species to immigrate to a more suitable habitat.
The worms population quintupled due to the pollution in the water. The worms can absorb oxygen over their entire surface area, causing them to have a high tolerance for low oxygen which pollution usually causes in water. This also means they are able to survive in the anaerobic conditions caused by severe nutrient pollution, such as a sewage discharge, that kills off other invertebrates.
As if overfishing in the earth’s oceans wasn’t bad enough and little to no time for the fish’s population to reproduce we are slowly exhausting the vast ocean’s natural ecosystem of their wildlife (Dr. Daniel Pauly, Overfishing.org) and with the probable extinction of the sharks bring ruin the entire global economy, with that the number of sea life with decrease exponentially hence our way of life of fishing will become extremely difficult to fish in the earth’s oceans with little to no fish left to catch. Eventually it may become a reality where fishermen may not be able to maintain their basic living lifestyle and millions of people will suffer unemployment with a deteriorating ocean thus the economic foundation will be at risk of
Scientists are working hard to simulate conditions projected for the end of the century and beyond to determine how the ocean will be able to adapt. Natural occurrences of hypoxic zones can be used to study this and researchers have shown that although fish do live in these areas, they are not able to reproduce here but must go to areas of higher oxygen content to reproduce. (3) Concerning evidence also shows that animals with shells will not be able to survive which has serious implications for the food chain. (3) New regulations on CO2 emissions are
On November 3, 2006, the New York Times published a front-page article titled, “Study Sees 'Global Collapse ' of Fish Species.” Within the article, experts cited that if “fishing around the world continues at its present pace, more and more species will vanish, marine ecosystems will unravel and there will be 'global collapse ' of all species currently fished, possibly as soon as midcentury.” (Dean, 2006). The issue of overfishing, which is defined as “continuously taking more fish than can be replaced by reproduction and growth,” (Overfishing: What Everyone Needs to Know, Hilborn 5) has become prevalent in society today. This is because of the advancements in technology and the pressure made by food industries for fisheries to catch
The situation is even worse when it comes to ocean exploitation and pollution. Over fishing changes the balance in coastal ecosystems and decreases fish populations. Sometimes it might even lead to extinction of certain marine species. Over fishing also damages coral reefs, because it allows algae to overgrow them. It turns out that the ocean is "the ultimate garbage dump "* because eventually all of the sewage, sediment from forest clearing, fertilizer and pesticide run-off flow into it. It is important to preserve the ocean, not only because it is an important source of food, but also because it plays a major role in climate regulation. The circulation of cold and warm water protects the earth from extreme temperature fluctuations. In addition, oceans absorbs between 30 and 40% of the CO2 given off as a result of human activity, thus keeping global warming at stake.