Marine Ecosystem Research Papers

The manner in which plants defend themselves reflects the nature of the threats which they face and the defence systems of plants native to fresh water differ in a number of ways from those found in marine plants. Whilst external deterrents such as thorns may be effective to a limited degree, this marine ecosystem research paper will concentrate on the chemical defences evolved in order to defeat the efforts of herbivore attackers. Within a marine ecosystem, the individual plants have a range of molecules which are able to evolve, over many generations, a range of biochemical weapons to prevent  predation. This is not, however, always as effective as the anti-predation measures taken by terrestrial plants.

The portieria hornamannii or red alga, can, like all sea-dwelling algae, produce metabolites to prevent herbivore predation, but these have only a limited effect against fish and ,in the case of some predators, notably the Aplysia Parvula or sea hare, the production of the metabolite ochtodene may be seen to have the opposite effect to the desired deterrent, with the sea hare having evolved a system of incorporating the metabolite into its system and thriving. The sea hare is known to graze on the red alga and the metabolite is thought to actually stimulate feeding in the sea hare. This arrangement appears to work only with this host/ predator pairing, and the metabolites are more effective against other prey, but, as the red alga provides not only important nutrients but also physical protection for the sea hare, it can be seen that it has somehow evolved a method of rendering safe the otherwise toxic metabolites, in order to continue its association with the alga. There is some benefit in this pairing for the alga too, as the attentions of the sea hare seem to limit feeding on the alga by other predators.

In much the same way, some herbivores, such as caterpillars, have found a way to overcome the toxic tannins produced by many terrestrial plants, incorporating them into their own metabolism and thus detonating the plant’s defence mechanism. In many terrestrial plants, predators such as this   are adapting to the chemical defences already in place, forcing the host plants to evolve newer and more virulent deterrents. Some plants have passive defence systems, innate to the plant and are not subject to change. Defences of this type would include the phenols of catechol and protocatechnic acid found in the colored scales of onions and renders those scales immune from attack by disease.

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A research paper is an in-depth examination of Marine Ecosystem. More than just an overview of what was learned on Marine Ecosystem, like a term paper is, a research paper contains analysis of Marine Ecosystem along the lines of organizational theory and relevant published material. Research papers are highly analytical and can often be more than 8 to 10 pages. The key to a good research project is the examination of recently published journal articles and peer-reviewed material on the Marine Ecosystem chosen. Like the name implies, research papers are exactly that, a paper that examines the information that can be found on Marine Ecosystem.