Environmental Science - Ch.7 Aquatic Ecosystems
Freshwater wetlands
- are areas of land, with special soils and plants, that are covered with freshwater for at least part of the year
Eutrophication
-An increase in the amount of nutrients
Phytoplankton
-Are microscopic plants that live in an ecosystem
Rhizoids
-Are root like structures that mosses anchor themselves to
Benthic zone
-Bottom of the pond or lake, which is inhabited by de composers, insect, larvae, and clams
Zooplankton
-Drifting animals, which may be microscopic or as large as a jellyfish
Nekton
-Free swimming organisms
Littoral zone
-Nutrient rich zone near the shore where aquatic life is diverse and abundant
Estuary
-an area in which freshwater from a river mixes with salt water from the ocean
Coastal wetlands
-are areas that are covered by salt water for all or part of the time are known as coastal wetlands
Benthos
-are bottom dwellers
Swamps
-are dominated with woods plants, such as flood - tolerant trees and shrubs
Coral reefs
-are limestone ridges built by tiny coral animals called coral polyps and the algae that live inside them
Mangrove swamps
-are swamps located along tropical and subtropical zones and help to protect the coastline from erosion and the damage from storms
Marshes
-contain non woody plants such as cattails
Salt marshes
-developed in estuaries where rivers deposit their load or mineral-rich mud
Barrier islands
-long thin island that run parallel to sandy shores that help protect the mainland and the coastal wetlands from erosion
Runoff
-precipitation that can carry pollutants like fertilizers from land into bodies of water
Freshwater ecosystems and marine ecosystems
Aquatic ecosystems are divided into two categories:
Plankton
Are organisms that cannot swim against currents, so they are drifters or free floaters.
Cold and full of oxygen and runs swiftly through a shallow river bed
At its headwaters rivers are usually ____________
Photosynthesis, nutrients
Estuaries support many marine organisms because the receive plenty of light for ____ and abundant ____ for plants and animals
Low, flat lands and have little water movement
Freshwater marshes tend to occur on, __________
Mussels, worms and barnacles
Give examples of benthos
Fish, whales and turtles
Give examples of nektonss
Lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and wetlands
List the five types of freshwater ecosystems:
1.Controls flooding 2.provides habitats 3.provides mating grounds
List three environmental functions of wetlands
Underground springs, melted snow, streams
Many rivers originate from ____
Southeast
Most freshwater wetlands are located in the ____
The shallow coastal waters
Most of the oceans life is concentrated in ____________
Pollution and oil spills
Name 2 threats to coral reefs
Temperature, sunlight, oxygen, nutrients, and the nature of the bottom
Name five factors that determine which organisms live in aquatic environments
Pollution and oil spills
Name two threats to the ocean
Flat, poorly drained, wooded land, often near streams
Swamps occur on _____
Florida Everglades
The ____ is the largest freshwater wetland In the United states
Salinity
The amount of dissolved salts the water contains
Marshes and swamps
The two main types of freshwater wetlands are—
The amount of nutrients and sunlight available
The types of organism present in a pond or lake ecosystem depend on ——
Salinity
The types of organisms in an aquatic ecosytem are mainly determined by the water's ____
Marshes, swamps, coral reefs, and oceans
What are the four types of marine ecosystems
When a coral turns white
What is coral bleaching
They are the food base for most aquatic animals
Why are plankton important?