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Giant Tube Worm Research Paper

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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

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