1. What chemicals do Nitrosococcus oceani and Nitrosopumilus maritimus consume from their ocean environment? How does the abundance of these chemicals influence their success and abundance? What is the relationship between nutrient availability and natural selection, in general?

2. What chemical byproducts do each contribute? (Be sure to cite the references above!) How does this relate to the “Greenhouse Effect?”

3. If one group is selected for due to their ability to withstand an abundance of crude oil, what chemical offsets to the environment are possible? How will this affect other organisms in this community? Provide specific examples with references to support your ideas.

4. In this Case Assignment you will learn about the ecosystems that make up the regions impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Spill. Using resources from the NOAA and your own independent research, that summarizes the characteristics of each ecosystem including organisms commonly found there, potential threats based on their relative location to the spill, and the economic impact of damages in these communities.

Begin your research using diagrams in the report, Natural Resource Damage Assessment for the Deepwater BP Oil Spill presented on the NOAA website: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov

In your report,

Include:

An introduction of the characteristics of the ecosytem community:
Marine Wetlands
Shoreline and Beaches
Nearshore benthos
Photic zone
Deep benthos
The level of the threat posed by the oil spill
The affected species
The type of surveys conducted to gather the data
The economic and environmental cost associated with the damage