Chapter 8 test

Zooplankton

"Drifting animals" range from single-celled protozoa to large invertebrates such as jellyfish.

Photoplankton

"Drifting plants" includes types of algae. Located along shorelines and are primary producers.

Services provided by marine ecosystems

*Ecological:* climate moderation, carbon dioxide absorption, nutrient cycling, waste management, reduced storm impact, habitats, biodiversity *Economical:* food, animal and pet feed, pharmaceuticals, transportation routes, coastal habitats for humans, recreation, employment, oil/natural gas, minerals, building materials

What major ecological and economic services do freshwater systems provide?

*Ecological:* climate moderation, nutrient cycling, waste treatment, flood control, groundwater recharge, habitats for many species, scientific information, biodiversity *Economical:* food, drinking water, irrigation water, hydroelectricity, recreation, transportation, employment

What are the four zones of a lake?

1) Littoral Zone 2) Limnetic Zone 3) Profundal Zone 4) Benthic Zone

Eutrophic Lake

A lake with a large supply of plant nutrients (usually nitrates and phosphates). (usually shallow with murky brown or green water; high turbidity; high net primary productivity)

Oligotrophic Lake

A lake with a low supply of plant nutrients. (often are deep and have steep banks; crystal clear water; low net primary productivity)

Mesotrophic Lake

A lake with a moderate supply of plant nutrients.

Hypereutrophic Lake

A lake with excessive nutrients, usually caused by cultural eutrophication.

Intertidal Zone

Area of shoreline between low and high tides.

Why are estuaries and coastal wetland so productive?

Because of high nutrient inputs from rivers and nearby land, circulation of nutrients by tidal flows, and increased sunlight penetration in shallow waters.

Three major ocean zones

Coastal zone, open sea, and ocean bottom.

Benthos

Consists of bottom dwellers such as oysters, clams, worms, lobsters, and crabs.

Flooding in New Orleans

Deltas and coastal wetlands provide natural protection against flooding. Humans are building dams and levees, which trap natural sediments deposited in deltas. River deltas are sinking because of this and flooding coastal wetlands.

Ultraplankton

Extremely small photosynthetic bacteria that may be responsible for 70% of the primary productivity near the ocean surface.

Sandy Shores (Barrier Beaches)

Gently sloping shores; most organisms bury into sand to survive; home to many different kinds of shorebirds.

Transition Zone

Headwaters that merge into wider, deeper, and warmer streams. Gently sloping sides. Slower flowing lower energy systems. Lower amounts of dissolved O2. More producers, cool + warm-water fish species.

Freshwater life zone

Lakes, rivers, streams, and inland wetlands.

Coastal Wetland

Land along a coastline, extending inland from an estuary that is covered with salt water all or part of the year (marshes, bays, lagoons).

Inland Wetland

Lands covered with freshwater all or part of the time (excluding lakes, reservoirs, and streams) and located away from coastal areas. *Examples:* marshes, swamps, prairie potholes, floodplains, arctic tundra (in the summer)

Lake

Large natural body of standing freshwater formed when precipitation, runoff, or groundwater fills depressions in the Earth's surface.

Decomposers

Mostly bacteria which break down organic compounds in the dead bodies and wastes of aquatic compounds in the dead bodies and wastes of aquatic organisms into nutrients that can be used by aquatic primary producers.

Source Zone

Narrow headwaters, mountain highland streams that are shallow, cold, clear and swiftly flowing. Steep slopes, waterfalls, etc. High Energy systems, lack of nutrients and primary producers. Large amounts of dissolved O2 species - trout, muscular fish, algae, mosses.

Saltwater (marine) life zone

Oceans and their accompanying estuaries, costal wetlands, shorelines, coral reefs, and mangrove forests.

Cultural Eutrophication

Overnourishment of aquatic ecosystems with plant nutrients because of human activities (such as agriculture and urbanization).

Estuary

Partially enclosed coastal area at the mouth of a river where its fresh water, carrying fertile silt and runoff from the land, mixes with salty seawater.

Surface Water

Precipitation that does not sink into the ground or evaporate.

Runoff

Precipitation that flows into streams, lakes, wetlands, etc.

Percentage of earth's surface covered in water

Saltwater covers about 71% of the earths surface and freshwater occupies roughly another 2.2%.

Three Zones of a Stream

Source zone, transition zone, and floodplain zone.

Rocky Shores

Steep, rocky shores; have many small pools in intertidal zone that contain a variety of species; species occupy different niches in response to temperature, water flow, and salinity.

Floodplain Zone

Streams drain into wider, deeper rivers flowing across flat valleys. Warmer temperature waters, low amounts of dissolved O2. Slow-moving water that supports large populations of producers, algae, rooted aquatic plants and cyanobacteria along shoreline. Rivers of this types empty into coastal deltas, marshes, and wetlands. Species - Carp, catfish, algae.

Nekton

Strongly swimming consumers such as fish, turtles, and whales.

5 factors that determines the organisms in the layers of aquatic life zones

Temperature, dissolved oxygen content, availability of food, and availability of light and nutrient required for photosynthesis.

Aquatic life zone

The aquatic equivalent of a biome.

Watershed (Drainage Basin)

The area that delivers runoff, sediment, and dissolved substances to a stream.

Turbidity

The clouding of water caused by excessive algae growth. Can have a harmful impact such as the clearing of land which causes silt to flow into bodies of water.

Open Sea

The part of the ocean that lies beyond the continental shelf.

Coastal Zone

The warm, nutrient-rich, shallow water that extends from the high tide mark on land to the edge of the continental shelf.

Mangrove Forest

Tropical equivalent to salt marshes; collection of trees that have extensive root systems to grow in salt water; help filter out toxins and extra plant nutrients.