Changing coastal oceans

1. Give one (1) example of innate behavior and one (1) example of learned behavior. (2 pts).

2. Provide the four (4) Tinbergen’s question for the study of animal behavior. (1 pt).

3. Explain the difference between proximate mechanisms and functional causations (2 pts).

4. As a young researcher, you have been asked to test for the existence of releasers (e.g. Tinbergen’s experiment on the belly coloration in sticklebacks). Describe, in your own words, how you would experimentally address this question? (2 pts).

5. Which one (1) of the three (3) foundations of behaviour permits a horizontal transmission of information (i.e. between individuals of the same generation)? (1 pt).
a. Natural selection.
b. Individual learning.
c. Social learning.

6. As you are observing Gulf menhaden swimming in large and dense schools in the salt marsh behind LUMCON’s marine station, you are wondering about the costs and benefits of group living in animals. Give three (3) example of potential costs and three (3) examples of benefits. (2 pts).

7. Explain why we most often observe animal groups bigger than the predicted optimal group size. (2 pts).

(30 points total) Student’s Name: ___________________________

8. Define “behavioral plasticity” (1pt). Provide an example of plastic behavior in a coastal/estuarine organism. (1pt). What kind of experimental test would you conduct to test whether an animal species exhibit plastic behavior? (1pt).

9. How does natural selection act to shape the dynamics of predator-prey interactions? (2 pts).

10. Explain how the properties of the environment (e.g. water turbidity) can have profound effect on the safety of group-living animals. (2pts).

11. Give two (2) examples for the Handicap principle. (2 pts).

12. Inter- or intrasexual selection?: (2 pts).
a. Ornaments and weapons in males:
b. Spermatic competition:
c. Nest defense:
d. Pre-copulation present:
13. Explain the origin of sexual selection. (2 pts).

14. How does kin selection operate? (2 pts).

15. This time you have been asked to help developing a research program aimed at mitigating the negative effect of lionfish, an invasive predatory species in many coastal systems in the United States, on resident fish species. Describe a possible Behavior-based management approach. (3 pts).

16. Describe the word fecund. (1 pt) If an organism displays high fecundity what does this mean? (1 pt)

17. List and describe two reasons why capture fishery production is plateauing worldwide (3 pts).

18. What is a TED and what does it do? (1 pt)

19. List two purposes of aquaculture other than the production of food. (1 pt)

20. List and describe two concerns and two benefits of aquaculture (2 pt). In your opinion, are farmed fisheries a good or bad idea? (1 pt)

21. Describe an adaptation to life in the deep sea and what benefit or benefits it provides. (2 pt)

22. Could Antarctic icefish that have evolved the loss of red blood cells survive in a tropical warm environment? Why or why not? (2 pt)

23. Why do coral reefs display such high species diversity? (2 pt)

24. Describe two environmental parameters that display seasonal variability in Terrebonne Bay, LA. (2 pt)

a. For each variable above, explain one behavioral or biological effect these fluctuations have on resident organisms (2 pt)

25. Who would handle temperature fluctuations better, an organism living at a temperate latitude or an organism living at a polar latitude? Why? (2 pt)

26. Species in the tropics are more susceptible to the negative consequences of the warming accompanying global climate change. Why? (2 pt)

27. If a shark swims from full strength seawater at 1000 mOsm into brackish water at 700 mOsm what will happen to the osmolarity of its muscle tissue? (1 pt)

a. If a fish swims from full strength seawater at 1000 mOsm into brackish water at 700 mOsm what will happen to the osmolarity of its muscle tissue? (1 pt)

28. Describe what happens to an organism’s metabolic rate above and below its critical oxygen partial pressure (Pcrit). (2 pt)

29. Describe two effects of ocean acidification on calcification. (2 pt)

(20 points total) Student’s Name: ___________________________

30. Which two microbial processes would be the most important for natural bioremediation of hydrocarbons within seafloor sediments? Circle the two that apply. (2 points)

a) Oxygen respiration
b) Methanogenesis
c) Denitrification
d) Sulfate reduction
e) Iron reduction

31. Which microbial process is performed by bacteria only? (2 points)

a) Oxygen respiration
b) Aerobic methanotrophy
c) Denitrification
d) Sulfate reduction

32. If I add fertilizer (N and P) to sediments with oil contamination what type of remediation is that? (2 points)

a) Bioaugmentation
b) Natural attenuation
c) Engineered remediation
d) Intrinsic
e) Biostimulation

33. In the picture below identify the zones where aerobic methanotrophy (1), methanogenesis (2), and anaerobic methane oxidation (3) would occur by writing the name of the major electron acceptor beside the number corresponding to the process. Use the figure to find the electron acceptor (6 points)
(1) _________________
(2) _________________
(3) _________________




Sample Solution