APES Chapter 8

How are coral reefs affected by humans?

15% of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20% have been damaged by coastal development. Pollution, overfishing, warmer ocean temperatures, increasing ocean acidity, and other stresses?

What percent of all mangrove forests have been destroyed?

20%

Freshwater systems cover less than _______% of earth's surface.

3%

What percent of the global human population lives along or near coastlines?

3.3%

Water covers how much of the earth's surface?

73.2%

What percent of fish spawn in the world's coral reefs, mangrove swamps, coastal wetlands, or rivers?

98%

What is a floodplain zone?

A flat, low-lying area along a river, created and subject to recurrent flooding, levee formation

What physical and behavioral characteristics allow intertidal zone organisms to persist?

Ability to not be swept away, changing levels of salinity, and the ability to deal with being immersed.

Where is the coastal zone located?

Along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

What is a watershed?

Area of land that water flows across as it moves towards a larger water body

What is a wetland?

Coastal land areas covered with water all or part of the year-include river mouths, inlets, bays, sounds and salt marshes in temperate zones.

What is a transitional zone?

Head water streams merge to form wider, deeper, and warmer streams that flow down gentler slops with less obstacles

What ecological and economic services do estuaries provide?

Help to support a variety of marine species and also help stabilize shorelines and reduce wave impacts.

Why are estuaries some of the world's most productive ecosystems?

High nutrient inputs from rivers and nearby land, rapid circulation of nutrients by tidal flows, and ample sunlight penetrating the shallow waters.

What are barrier islands ?

Long, narrow islands running parallel to and near the shoreline, composed of accumulations of coastal sediments (principally sand), formed by wind, waves, and currents.

What are the two categories of aquatic life zones?

Saltwater and Marine

What is the intertidal zone?

The areas of shoreline between low and high tides.

What is the euphotic zone?

The depth of the water in a lake or ocean that is exposed to sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to occur is the euphotic zone. Almost all of primary productivity occurs in this zone

What is the abyssal zone?

The zone of ocean 2000-6000 meters below the surface

Why are coral reefs important?

They help moderate atmospheric temperature by removing CO2 from the atmosphere, and they act as natural barriers that protect 15% of the world's coastlines from erosion caused by battering waves and storms?

Estuaries vary constantly in __________ and ____________.

Water temperature and salinity.

What is coral bleaching?

When stresses such as increased temperature cause the algae, upon which corals depend for food, to die off, leaving behind a white skeleton of calcium carbonate.

What are estuaries?

Where rivers meet the sea.

What is cultural eutrophication?

destruction of water source from human processes (pollution, etc)

What are four types of organisms found in aquatic zones?

plankton, nekton, benthos, and decomposers

What are the two different types of lakes?

prokaryotic and eukaryotic

What abiotic factors determine the type of and number of organisms found in aquatic systems?

temperature, dissolved oxygen, content, availability of food, and availability of light and nutrients required for photosynthesis.