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?