| A | B |
|---|
| What are the environmental functions of wetlands? | filtering pollutants, protecting against floods, buffering shores against erosion, spawning grounds and habitat for wildlife, protecting for endangered species, providing recreational areas |
| Estuaries are very productive because they receive nutrients from where? | rivers and oceans |
| What causes most coastal pollution in the US? | industrial waste and sewage |
| What adaptation prevents phytoplankton from sinking into deep water? | flagella |
| Where are swamps commony found? | flat, poorly drained land |
| The majority of marine organisms ar found where? | shallow coastal areas |
| What is a new and old river like? | beginning: cold, fast, narrow, shallow, high oxygen content end: warm, slow, deep, wide, low oxygen content |
| What are the threats to ocean ecosystems. | 1. nutrient runoff and industrial waste 2. overfishing and entanglement of wildlife in fishing nets |
| The types of organisms found in a pond or lake depend upon what? | 1. amount of sunlight 2. temperature of water 3. presence of nutrients |
| In what zone if life diverse and abundant? | littoral zone |
| In what zone is the water cool and dark? | benthic zone |
| Even though estuaries break down pollutants over time why is it still considered a problem? | it is the volume of the pollutants, more than the time factor, that harms estuaries |
| What distinguishes nekton from benthos? | nekton swims freely while benthos often live attached to a hard surface |
| What organism produces most of the food in an aquatic ecosystem? | phytoplankton |
| The arrangement of organism in the open ocean is determined by what? | amount of nutrients and sunlight that are available |
| An estuary functions as a mineral trap due to what? | the mixing action of river water and ocean water |
| Coral reefs are formed as a result of what? | the secretion of calcium carbonate by tiny marine animals |
| What are the two main types of freshwater wetlands? | marshes and swamps |
| What are the characteristics of salt marshes? | grasses, coastal areas, salty |
| What are the characteristics of mangrove swamps? | woody plants, coastal areas, salty |
| Which ecosystem has the highest level of salinity? | salt marsh |
| What is a threat to coral reefs? | oil spills, sewage, pesticides |
| Why doesn't photosynthesis occur is deep ocean water? | there is no sunlight |
| Plankton forms what part of the food chain? | base |
| What is the least productive marine ecosystem? | open ocean |
| What fresh water and salt water mix in estuaries it forms what? | nutrient trap |
| This lake has a large amount of plant growth due to nutrients. | eutrophic lake |
| Excessive nutrient growth in an aquatic ecosystem can be accelerated by what? | runoff |
| Barnacles are a type of what? | benthos |
| Fish are a type of what? | nekton |
| Mosses use what to anchor themselves? | rhizoids |
| These islands typically run parallel to the shore | barrier islands |
| This is the amount of dissolved salts in the water. | salinity |
| Many rivers originate from what in the mountains? | snow melt |
| A river changes with what two things? | land and climate |
| Coral polyps secrete skeletons of what? | limestone or calcium carbonate |
| Where do corals live? | shallow, warm water |
| What percent of all coral reefs are threatened by human activity? | 27% |
| Photosynthesis is limited to the upper 100 meters of the ocean because water does what? | absorbs sunlight |
| Most ocean pollution can be traced to activities where? | on land |
| What are the three groups of aquatic organisms? | plankton, nekton, benthos |
| What are the two types of plankton? | phytoplankton and zooplankton |
| Marshes are dominated by what types of plants? | nonwoody |
| Swamps are dominated by what types of plants? | woody |
| What is a wetland? | area that is periodically underwater |
| How do you describe eutrophication? | increase in the amount on nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem, sometimes caused by upstream runoff. The excess nutrients cause an increase in plant and algaw growth. The number of bacteria in the water also grows, depleting oxygen levels. Fish and other oxygen-dependent organisms may then die. |
| What are adaptations of birds in a marsh? | spear like beaking for stabbing fish and flat beaks that allow them to shift through water to catch fish. |
| What are three fresh water ecosystems? | lake, stream, wetland |
| what are three marine ecosystems? | ocean, marsh, coral reef |
| What must organisms adapt to in coastal areas and in opean water? | In coastal areas, organisms must adapt to changes in water level and salinity. In open oceans, organisms must adapt to changes in temperature and the amount of sunlight and nutrients available |
| Why are many of the world's largest cities built on estuaries? | Estuaries provide protected harbors, access to oceans, and connections to rivers |
| Do more plants and animals live on rocky or sandy shores? Explain | More marine organisms live on rocky shores than on sandy shores because rocks provide anchorage for the organisms |
| What beneficial role do decomposers play in an squatic ecosystem? | Decomposers break down dead organisms. This allows the nutrients from dead organisms to reenter the ecosystem for use by other orgnanisms |
