Several different groups of organisms make up the benthic community, each having different physiologies and behaviors adapted to live under or on the sediment. For some, that includes the ability to regenerate after being injured - but not without cost. Dr. Lindsay walks through some of the changes to individual behaviors and physiology that can happen when an animal is injured. Effects on reproduction, respiration, and bioturbation are discussed in the context of overall ecosystem functioning. Dr. Lindsay also walks through a data-driven activity on the prevalence of injury in benthic organisms (which is also available to download below).
Webinar Archive
You can watch a video of the webinar below. Below the video is also a link to the interactive concept map so that you can follow along with the presentation.
Concept Map
This webinar features a map entitled, "How Does Injury Affect Marine Invertebrates and Their Ecology?" You can explore the concept map in the window below, or save it to your own CLIMB account.
Classrom Connections
Making Connections with Data - Exploring the Ecology of Injury in Marine Benthic Invertebrates (XLS, 92 KB): Use these research data to give your students an opportunity to explore the topic of injury and regeneration in your classroom. Students can then draw conclusions about the data based upon these research results in addition to the background information provided for lifestyle and feeding method.
Background information sheets: Includes some basic information about Annelids, Echinoderms and Decapod Crustaceans to complement the activity, and includes a level-appropriate glossary:
Dr. Sara Lindsay is an integrative biologist. Her research interests span marine invertebrate community ecology, behavior, sensory biology and molecular biology. Some of her research focus areas include understanding how sensory systems, such as chemoreception and vision coordinate ecologically important behaviors, how processes such as predation and disturbance structure communities, and how predation risk and injury affect feeding behavior, bioturbation, and competitive interactions.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant # NSF OCE-0707385. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
COSEE-Ocean Systems Central Office School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine Darling Marine Center 193 Clark's Cove Road Walpole, ME 04573
Phone: (207) 563-8176 E-mail: cosee-os
