unit 4: human impacts on the marine environment
1. what is a limiting factor and give an example.
2. draw an example of a population growth curve of an organism and label the major stages.
3. draw a trophic pyramid and label: primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer. what does the work rophic\ mean.
4. is a primary consumer the same thing as a herbivore?
5. which has the highest combined biomass on the planet? whales or phytoplankton?
6. a heterotroph can make its own food. (true/false)
7. nutrients commonly found in fertilizer are?
8. what are the conditions necessary for karenia brevis to start to form a bloom?
9. give an example of a point and non - point source of nutrient runoff in a watershed.
10. what happens to plastic as it breaks down in the ocean?
11. what is the large area in the pacific ocean called where trash and plastic collects?

Question

unit 4: human impacts on the marine environment
1. what is a limiting factor and give an example.
2. draw an example of a population growth curve of an organism and label the major stages.
3. draw a trophic pyramid and label: primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer. what does the work 	rophic\ mean.
4. is a primary consumer the same thing as a herbivore?
5. which has the highest combined biomass on the planet? whales or phytoplankton?
6. a heterotroph can make its own food. (true/false)
7. nutrients commonly found in fertilizer are?
8. what are the conditions necessary for karenia brevis to start to form a bloom?
9. give an example of a point and non - point source of nutrient runoff in a watershed.
10. what happens to plastic as it breaks down in the ocean?
11. what is the large area in the pacific ocean called where trash and plastic collects?

Accepted Answer

### Question 1
# Brief Explanations:
A limiting factor is a resource or environmental condition that restricts the growth, distribution, or abundance of a population. For example, in a marine ecosystem, sunlight can be a limiting factor for photosynthetic organisms like phytoplankton in deep waters where light penetration is low.
# Answer:
A limiting factor is a factor that restricts a population's growth (e.g., sunlight for deep - sea phytoplankton).

### Question 2
# Brief Explanations:
A typical population growth curve has three stages: lag phase (slow growth as organisms adapt), exponential growth phase (rapid growth with abundant resources), and stationary phase (growth stops as carrying capacity is reached). To draw it, plot time on the x - axis and population size on the y - axis. Start with a flat lag phase, then a steep exponential phase, and finally a flat stationary phase.
# Answer:
Draw a curve with lag (slow), exponential (rapid), and stationary (no growth) stages (x: time, y: population).

### Question 3
# Brief Explanations:
A trophic pyramid is a graphical representation of energy flow in an ecosystem. The base is primary producers (e.g., phytoplankton in marine), then primary consumers (herbivores that eat producers), secondary consumers (carnivores that eat primary consumers), and tertiary consumers (top predators). "Trophic" relates to nutrition or feeding. To draw it, make a pyramid - shaped figure with four levels labeled as required.
# Answer:
Draw a pyramid: base - primary producer, next - primary consumer, then - secondary consumer, top - tertiary consumer. "Trophic" means related to feeding/nutrition.

### Question 4
# Brief Explanations:
Primary consumers are organisms that eat primary producers (autotrophs). Herbivores are organisms that eat plants (which are primary producers in most cases). So, in most ecosystems, primary consumers are herbivores, but there can be exceptions (e.g., some primary consumers in a detrital food web that eat dead organic matter, but in a typical grazing food web, primary consumers are herbivores). So generally, a primary consumer is the same as a herbivore.
# Answer:
Yes, a primary consumer is generally a herbivore (eats primary producers).

### Question 5
# Brief Explanations:
Phytoplankton are primary producers and are present in huge numbers across the world's oceans. Whales are large but their total number and biomass are much less than the combined biomass of phytoplankton, which form the base of the marine food web and are extremely abundant.
# Answer:
Phytoplankton has the highest combined biomass.

### Question 6
# Brief Explanations:
Heterotrophs are organisms that cannot make their own food. They obtain food by consuming other organisms. Autotrophs (like plants, algae) can make their own food. So the statement is false.
# Answer:
False

### Question 7
# Brief Explanations:
Common nutrients in fertilizers are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These are essential for plant growth and are often added to fertilizers to enhance crop production.
# Answer:
Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K)

### Question 8
# Brief Explanations:
Karenia brevis (a dinoflagellate that causes red tides) needs warm water temperatures, high nutrient levels (especially nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff), calm water conditions (to stay near the surface for light), and sufficient light for photosynthesis to form a bloom.
# Answer:
Conditions: warm water, high nutrients (N, P), calm water, sufficient light.

### Question 9
# Brief Explanations:
A point source of nutrient runoff is a single, identifiable source, like a sewage treatment plant discharging effluent into a waterway. A non - point source is diffuse, like agricultural runoff from a large area of farmland where fertilizers and manure are washed into the watershed during rain.
# Answer:
Point source: sewage treatment plant discharge. Non - point source: agricultural runoff from farmland.

### Question 10
# Brief Explanations:
When plastic breaks down in the ocean, it does not fully decompose. It breaks into smaller pieces called microplastics (pieces less than 5mm in size). These microplastics can be ingested by marine organisms, enter the food web, and cause harm.
# Answer:
Plastic breaks into microplastics (≤5mm) in the ocean.

### Question 11
# Brief Explanations:
The large area in the Pacific Ocean where trash and plastic collect is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is a region of concentrated marine debris, mainly plastic, formed by ocean currents that converge and trap the debris.
# Answer:
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

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