fauna
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their molecules. Almost all fatty acids, both straight -chain and cyclic, saturated and unsaturated, found in nature contain an even number of carbon atoms.
fauna (1) name of a rural goddess in Greek mythology, sister of Faunus, used
first by Linnaeus in the title of his work Fauna suecica (1746), a companion
volume to his Flora suecica (1745); (2) collective term applied to the animals
or animal life of any particular region or epoch; (3) treatise upon the animals of any geographical area or geological period.
fecal pellets the membrane-enveloped feces of marine animals (e.g., Polychaeta,
Gastropoda, Bivalva, Crustacea, Osteichthyes). Large pellets, especially those with
diatom remains, have high sinking rates, and may reach shelf sea bottoms in 1 to
2 days, forming food for the benthic fauna (-7coprophagy). Most are of simple
ovoid form less than a millimeter long, or more rarely rod-shaped with longitudinal or transverse sculpturing.
fecundity the total amount of eggs produced by a female during a single reproductive cycle. Egg number (N) is usually related to the size (length, L) of
individual females, where N = f Lb. The power b usually varies around 3 for
different species. The fecundity of fish is often estimated in fisheries
research in order to calculate the reproductive capacity of a population or,
the other way round, to estimate the size of the spawning population from
the density of pelagic eggs and the size of the spawning area.
feeding the act of taking up nutritional substances by an organism, characterized by the speed at which food particles are ingested (feeding rate) or
removed from the water (filtering rate, -7fi1ter feeders) as well as by the origin
of the food and the way in which it is collected. The food particles may be of
animal origin (carnivorous feeding), vegetable origin (herbivorous feeding)
or a mixture of both (omnivorous feeding). The feeding type refers to how
the food is gathered; examples are organisms that filter particles from the
water (filter feeding) or ones that seize prey (raptorial feeding). Another
characteristic is the place where the food is collected. Some pelagically living species may collect their food from the sea bottom (benthic feeding).
Feeding is in many marine species, e.g., demersal fish, zooplankton, restricted
to certain hours of the day (diurnal feeding periodicity), which in the case
of zooplankton is accompanied by vertical migration of the species.
feeding rate -7feeding.
Fennoscandian ice sheet -7ice sheet.
fermentation anaerobic metabolic process mostly in microorganisms, fermenters,
in which organic matter is degraded to alcohols, lower fatty acids or ketons.
124
their molecules. Almost all fatty acids, both straight -chain and cyclic, saturated and unsaturated, found in nature contain an even number of carbon atoms.
fauna (1) name of a rural goddess in Greek mythology, sister of Faunus, used
first by Linnaeus in the title of his work Fauna suecica (1746), a companion
volume to his Flora suecica (1745); (2) collective term applied to the animals
or animal life of any particular region or epoch; (3) treatise upon the animals of any geographical area or geological period.
fecal pellets the membrane-enveloped feces of marine animals (e.g., Polychaeta,
Gastropoda, Bivalva, Crustacea, Osteichthyes). Large pellets, especially those with
diatom remains, have high sinking rates, and may reach shelf sea bottoms in 1 to
2 days, forming food for the benthic fauna (-7coprophagy). Most are of simple
ovoid form less than a millimeter long, or more rarely rod-shaped with longitudinal or transverse sculpturing.
fecundity the total amount of eggs produced by a female during a single reproductive cycle. Egg number (N) is usually related to the size (length, L) of
individual females, where N = f Lb. The power b usually varies around 3 for
different species. The fecundity of fish is often estimated in fisheries
research in order to calculate the reproductive capacity of a population or,
the other way round, to estimate the size of the spawning population from
the density of pelagic eggs and the size of the spawning area.
feeding the act of taking up nutritional substances by an organism, characterized by the speed at which food particles are ingested (feeding rate) or
removed from the water (filtering rate, -7fi1ter feeders) as well as by the origin
of the food and the way in which it is collected. The food particles may be of
animal origin (carnivorous feeding), vegetable origin (herbivorous feeding)
or a mixture of both (omnivorous feeding). The feeding type refers to how
the food is gathered; examples are organisms that filter particles from the
water (filter feeding) or ones that seize prey (raptorial feeding). Another
characteristic is the place where the food is collected. Some pelagically living species may collect their food from the sea bottom (benthic feeding).
Feeding is in many marine species, e.g., demersal fish, zooplankton, restricted
to certain hours of the day (diurnal feeding periodicity), which in the case
of zooplankton is accompanied by vertical migration of the species.
feeding rate -7feeding.
Fennoscandian ice sheet -7ice sheet.
fermentation anaerobic metabolic process mostly in microorganisms, fermenters,
in which organic matter is degraded to alcohols, lower fatty acids or ketons.